Gentle Fist, Will of Fire
by Persephone Oswald Oleesen
Summary: UNDER RECONSTRUCTION
1. Chapter 1

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Yes, yes, this story has been posted before, but the author (thank you thank you thank you!!!), Gaming Ikari, has so graciously allowed me to continue his fanfic. I promise, I will try my best to live up to your expectations on this fic, Ikari-kun! Thank you again for letting me have your story! Enjoy, everyone!!

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in this story (Actually, I don't even own the first chappie!!) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

I have been the heir apparent for the first fifteen years of my life. The child who would be the next member of the main family. The lucky Hyuga who would escape the Manji seal which could end a life at a whim. Though not especially strong, I was unmarked.

I watched my younger sister grow stronger. Hanabi was everything I was not. She was strong. Capable. Secure in her abilities and a much stronger ninja at her tender age than I ever was. It almost seemed like she would soon surpass me.

So it was with resignation, not anger, that I read the note. Hanabi would be heir to the main branch of the family. I would be branded with the same seal my cousin Neji had been branded with. I would be a member of the branch family, expected to die in the name of my sister or at her mere whim. It was in that moment that I understood my cousin's rage with me during that first chuunin exam.

I told my team mates. Kiba growled that they'd have to go through him if they wanted me. Shino expressed a similar sentiment, the little parts of his face which were visible twitching into a rare grin. I knew that these two boys would gladly fight against my family to keep them from forever marking me. I knew that if they did fight, they would die. I made them promise not to raise a hand against my family.

Grudgingly, after much debate, they finally agreed.

So it was with a heavy heart that I sat in my bedroom, glancing at my reflection in the small mirror my father had given me. I tried to picture having to use my forehead protector to hide the unsightly seal which would forever mark me. I tried not to weep.

My grand-uncle opened the door, his own forehead protector hiding the mark which I was about to be branded with. His smile was one of sympathy, of a regretful knowledge. He knew just what sort of pain I was about to go through, the changes that I was about to face.

He knew that Hyuga Hiashi would no longer be my father. He would be the clan head.

Arriving in the family dojo, I calmly strode to the center of the sealing circle with the grace which befitted my position. I may not have lived up to my expectations, but I wouldn't embarrass my family with cries for mercy or other displays of weakness. I could be strong for my father, just this once. I knelt in front of him, resting lightly in seiza and tilting my head back to allow him to scribe the mark which would forever bind me to my sister's protection.

It would be duty and survival which bound me to her, not love. Love had no place in a family such as ours. Love could not protect our secrets or guarantee that our family wouldn't defect. For a family like ours, we had only duty. I would do mine with a clear conscience.

And so it seemed that I would disappear quietly into the history books of my family, a footnote about a member of the main branch too weak to pass muster. My father touched his brush to the dark green ink, his eyes not meeting mine as he finished his preparations. With slow, precise movements he flicked his right sleeve back and raised the brush to mark my forehead.

It was then that the compound wall, the garden, and the wall of the dojo disappeared in a maelstrom of wind and chakra. Naruto, wearing his orange jumpsuit and a determined scowl, strode through the destruction like my father might stroll through one of our gardens. At his side stood two Kage Bunshins who poofed out of existence, and behind him I could see my teammates.

They vanished in a swirl of leaves as they used the body flicker, reappearing in flanking positions to me. Gentle, but firm hands grabbed my arms. My gaze turned to Shino as I tried to form the words to a question I wanted desperately to ask, but couldn't speak.

"We promised not to raise a hand against your family," Shino noted calmly as he and Kiba pulled me to my feet, ignoring the activation of the Byakugan in many members of my family. I was dragged quickly to the entrance Naruto had created as Shino and Kiba both used the body flicker technique again. Now Naruto stood in between my enraged family and I like a wall. "We never promised not to tell anyone. Nor did we promise not to raise our hands against you."

They'd followed the letter of the promise I'd extracted from them and violated the spirit. I couldn't find it in my heart to hate them for it.

Two members of the branch family closed on Naruto. Even back when he'd been a younger boy facing the first chuunin exam, he'd managed to beat Neji in close combat. The two who closed with him were earthworms crawling in the mud next to the way Neji soared. Naruto had only improved under his tutelage with one of three legendary Ninja, conjuring a Rasengan in each hand which blasted them away without having to move.

Neji, I knew, could stop Naruto. With my father, both of them could overcome Naruto with a great deal of ease. I watched unblinking as my cousin rose in tandem with my father. Neji advanced quickly, a smile on his face as he walked towards the man who held the rare privilege of having defeated him.

"You're going to try to make good on your promise, Naruto?" Neji's question was light, belying the dangerous nature of the situation. Naruto's grin seemed to answer the question. My cousin shrugged, his Byakugan activating as he launched a furious assault against his opponent.

Even I could see the opening he left Naruto. It was the only way he could save face and support his friend. The only way he could contribute without being killed.

Naruto didn't hesitate as he overwhelmed Neji's defense and left the branch member unconscious with a well placed blow. Several members of the family murmured at this development, firmly believing my cousin had allowed this defeat. They could never prove it thanks to Naruto's previous defeat of Neji, but they would always know.

"Kiba, Shino... You two have a job," Naruto reminded, not turning to face us. His voice seemed to snap my comrades out of their trance.

They took me with them as they exited the hole Naruto had created. I watched as my family began to swarm towards Naruto, attempting to take him down with their style. They didn't notice the Naruto on the roof until the Kage Bunshin in the dojo was finally struck after defeating half of the family present. They didn't see the wink he gave me as he dove into the confusion with another Rasengan.

And once again, I was forced to see the hopeless beginning of a battle I knew, deep in my heart, would be a desperate fight for the blond boy.

≈

I found myself worrying as we waited. Shino and Kiba wouldn't let me leave the small apartment which I'd learned belonged to Naruto, nor would they return to the Hyuga compound to aid my kidnapper.

Neither boy truly had much to worry about. Shino was the heir to the Aburame clan and as such, was protected from any problems which may arise as a result of his actions. Likewise, Kiba was protected by being a member of the Inuzuka clan... and everyone knew that messing with one Inuzuka would bring the whole clan into things.

Naruto had no such protection. My family would fight him without a care because he had no clan, no ardent protectors who could guarantee reprisals for any permanent damage.

So it was with great shock that I watched Naruto walk in to his home. Battered, bruised, his clothing torn, he returned.

"How?" I'd finally found my voice.

"Bah. Your father's heart wasn't really into it," Naruto waved off, turning on his kettle and fishing out a styrofoam cup of instant ramen from his cupboard. Peeling away the lid and sniffing it in anticipation, he cocked his head to look at me. "Besides, most of your family isn't really all that strong. I bet most of them can't even see the tenketsu like Neji can. They just aren't used to dealing with someone as good at Taijutsu as they are."

Despite his demeanor, I knew that it was not lightly that one could walk into the Hyuga compound with hostile intent and then walk out. It was not lightly than one could dismiss the impressive skills of my family.

Yet I realized for the first time, watching the boy as he eagerly poured the hot water into the ramen cup, that his dream of being Hokage wasn't just a dream he'd endlessly walk towards. It was a real possibility already. He had the skills, he had the attitude, and he certainly had the sheer brazen confidence it would take to pull off the job.

I knew then that whatever happened, whatever the result would be of Naruto's trespass against my family, I would be safe. I knew that whatever the fallout from this would be, I could face it with this man and my teammates at my side.

I knew that Naruto had delivered me from my fate and would not back down from the declaration of war he'd signed in destruction with my family. I knew that he would not back down, could not back down. I knew it could only end when the will of one side finally crumbled.

I knew that he would stay firm no matter what. I knew he was fully aware of what he'd just done. He was smiling anyway. Naruto's broad grin reflected the small smile on my face, though in my heart I was happier than he could have imagined.

≈

That was all Ikari-kun's work. Hope you like the next installment! Please review!!


	2. Chapter 2

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

This is my continuation of the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in this story (Actually, I don't even own the first chappie!!) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

The four of us sat on the floor later that night, each holding a cup of ramen Naruto had prepared for us. We talked little, simply enjoying each other's company and the peace of the sleeping village around us. We all knew that this would probably be the last time we would ever be able to simply relax and unwind, at least for a little while. Subconsciously, I knew that we were swimming in the calm waters before the storm that was my family.

At first I was tense, fearfully expecting my father and numerous members of the clan to barrel into Naruto's apartment after us. The three boys tried to calm me, reminding me that a composed and regal clan such as the Hyuga claim to be would not march into another's home uninvited. They told me that my father and the other clan members would remain at the Hyuga compound, attempting to save whatever dignity they had left after being defeated by a single shinobi. Still, I worried.

Finally, after emptying the steaming contents of his twelfth and final cup, Naruto sat back, a wholly satisfied smile playing across his lips. "Mmm, now _that's _what I call a meal!"

Kiba, who was surrounded by eight empty styrofoam cups himself, shook his head. "Keep scarfing food down like that and you're going to be bigger than Choji used to be," he teased, easing the tension in the room with the light hearted smile he flashed. Since Naruto had returned from training for two and a half years, Kiba had been strangely kind to Naruto, hostile feelings seemingly forgotten. He now treated Naruto as a brother of sorts, a relief to everyone around him, including myself. I loved Kiba like a brother, but his jealousy of Naruto wore on my nerves as much as everyone else's. When Naruto set foot in the village once again, I was surprised and relieved when instead of glaring at Naruto like he normally would Kiba went up to him and greeted him like everyone else had. Well, not me-- I had fainted. Not exactly what one would call a proper welcoming, but that's beside the point.

Shino sipped on his tea, having traded his ramen for the drink, and sighed deeply. "Naruto, would you mind allowing the three of us to stay over here tonight? It's a bit late to be walking the streets, and, well-"

Naruto waved the hooded boy's excuses away, standing. Regarding the three of us with the warm smile that never ceased to make my heart melt, he said, "No problem! You can all crash here on the floor. Lemme go get some blankets and stuff first..."

He left, only to return a moment later with his arms full of blankets and pillows galore. Scooting the empty styrofoam cups off to the side with his foot, he laid four blankets down side by side on the floor. When Kiba questioned him about the fourth blanket, Naruto flashed him a mischevious grin. "I'll sleep in here with you three, since Mikki-chan told me you're afraid of the dark."

Mikki Togashi was a teenage girl who had recently been employed at Ino's family's flower shop. One day when Shikamaru had gone to visit his girlfriend, Kiba had tagged along, having nothing better to do. That's how they'd met, and they'd been dating for around four months now. I was really happy for him, and Mikki was just the sweetest thing. They made a good couple, I thought, and Sakura and Ino practically swooned whenever they saw them together.

Throwing his pillow at the blonde, Kiba made a face. "Mikki-chan wouldn't tell you that. You're lying."

"Believe what you wanna believe, man," Naruto replied, shrugging. His eyes twinkled with good-natured humor, and my heart fluttered slightly as I gazed up at him. "You do realize that since you threw your pillow at me I get to keep it now, ne?"

"Baka..."

Half an hour later we were all sprawled on the living room floor, peaceful silence only disturbed by Kiba's soft snoring. Shino was also asleep beside me, and as I stared up at the ceiling, wide awake, my mind trailed off to the thought of the punishment I would get for allowing Naruto and the others to spare me from my fate. Regardless of my earlier thoughts, I worried. Not only would I be punished and possibly banished from the clan, but Naruto would get in deep trouble, too! Tears began to well in my eyes at the thought, and before I could halt the flow a single drop escaped, trailing down my cheek and into the pillow underneath my head.

"Hinata-chan?"

I froze. The voice that had whispered my name had come from my left, and the only person lying on that side of me was Naruto. I turned my head in that direction and searched the space for him, but the darkness in the room only allowed me to see a faint outline of the boy. With my throat closed off by sadness and surprise, all I could choke out was a strained "Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

I mentally kicked myself. I should have known that Naruto would still be awake. He'd even told us how ever since Sasuke had defected he'd had trouble sleeping some nights. I should have realized that tonight might be one of those nights. "Nothing, N-Naruto-kun."

"Oh. I thought you were crying."

I was mystified by how he knew I was about to cry since he wouldn't be able to see me through the darkness and how I hadn't made a sound, but I decided that now wasn't the time to muse over that. Sighing, I turned my attention back to the ceiling. "What is going to happen now that I allowed you three to get involved? My family will have your h-head for this, you know."

I heard the fabric shift, and somehow I knew that he'd turned to lay on his side, facing me. "Eh, Hinata-chan, don't worry about it. If your old man comes along and trys to start something, I'll just knock him around a bit until he gives up and goes home. I'm not worried about them, and you shouldn't be either. Believe me, I'm not going to let them mark you like Neji." His voice betrayed him when he began talking about the Manji seal, revealing the repulse and anger he felt towards the Hyuga for what they did to their own family members. I couldn't say I didn't agree with him.

I turned onto my side then, gazing at him through the darkness. Trying to keep the tears of guilt and fear I felt for putting him in harm's way from overwhelming me, I laid my clenched right hand on the carpet beside my pillow, my nails digging deep into my palm. "You d-didn't... You didn't h-have to do that f-for me, Naruto-kun. You have n-no one to p-protect you from the wrath that is the H-Hyuga clan. I p-put you in unessessary danger..." I mentally cursed at myself for stuttering. I'd worked so hard not to stutter around him anymore, but if I got a little overemotional, then the stutter was back in place. I bit my tongue and squeezed my eyes shut, screaming _Baka! Baka! _at myself in my mind, angry at myself for looking like a fool in front of him once again.

My self degrations were halted mid-curse when a hand closed over my own, squeezing slightly. My eyes snapped open as I instantly recognized the texture of that hand-- rough and worn in one way and soft and warm in another. My heart lept into my throat again, and I could feel it beating rapidly on my adam's apple. I could feel my face instantly burning, and I was reminded of before, when I couldn't even be in the same village with Naruto and keep from blushing.

"Hinata-chan." That voice... His voice calmed me like nothing else could. It was serious and at the same time comfortingly gentle, and I could feel my fingernails ease away from my bruised palm at his touch. My will to keep from crying instantly crumbled, and I felt the salty droplets rolling off of my nose as he began to speak. "Stop it. I wanted to help you. How would I be able to live with myself when I knew that I had let one of my best friends, one of my special people be marked with a seal that could end their life at any time? When Kiba and Shino told me what your old man was going to do to you this afternoon, you couldn't even imagine how worried and angry I was." He smiled, and I could almost physically feel the glow that radiated off of him. "I'm gonna be Hokage some day. How could I protect a village if I couldn't even protect my own friends?" He squeezed my fist again, and I felt my heart return to its place in my chest, beating as slowly as it would had I been asleep. "As for the 'wrath that is the Hyuga clan'... As long as you're okay, Hinata-chan, I could face anything that nasty old Hiashi could toss at me."

I slept better that night than I ever would have if I had been in my own bed. Naruto's hand curled around my own was like a drug for me, and it put me into a wonderful and refreshing repose. I think he slept well that night too, because the last thing I remember before drifting off to my dreams was his snore.

≈

I laid my head against Naruto's chest, tightening my two-armed grip on his waist. He in turn pulled me closer to him and put his lips to the top of my head, whispering something intellegible. I raised my head and gave him a questioning look. He opened his mouth, and when I saw the expression in his eyes, the unadulterated tenderness that radiated from those twin cerulean pools, I just knew he was going to say it. Hearing Naruto-kun say those three little words to me was something I had dreamt about for my entire existence, and now the moment was upon me. My heart tightened in my chest, and as he inhaled, preparing to speak, I began to cry.

Knock knock knock.

I blinked in confusion, watching him close his mouth and smile down at me as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. What did he say? I asked him to repeat his words, and he opened his mouth again.

Knock knock knock.

I opened my eyes, the light pouring in on me from the windows almost painfully bright. The sight that welcomed me into the waking world warmed my heart. Naruto was sprawled out on the floor, head lying on the floor beside the pillow. A glistening trail of drool could be seen trailing down his chin from his slightly parted lips, and his hand had slipped off of mine in the night and instead laid beside mine, forefinger twitching slightly.

Knock knock knock. "Naruto, are you dead in there? Answer the door!"

"Yosh! Naruto-kun, awaken! We have an important message for you!"

A sigh. Then: "Lee, dear, would you mind not being so peppy this early? It makes me feel sorta sick..."

I blinked as everything that had happened last night came rushing back at me. The tears, Kiba, Shino, and Naruto rescuing me, the Manji seal... I moaned as I realized that it was morning.

"... Hey, Naruto! I hear you in there! C'mon, open the damn door! Lazy baka..."

I struggled to my feet, the relaxing sleep strangely keeping a tight hold on my muscles. I almost tripped over Shino, who was still sound asleep, and Kiba, who had turned over and mumbled something intellegible at the sound of the voices outside the door. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I tried to straighten my rumpled purple jacket, and upon realizing that my long hair probably looked worse I dropped it and opened the door. A very happy-looking Lee and an annoyed Sakura met my eyes.

Sakura's expression changed from agitated to curious as she laid eyes on me in my rumpled state. "Hinata-chan? What are you doing here?" A mischevious smile played across her lips as she noticed that I was still half asleep. "What happened last night, Hinata? Hmm?"

"Wha-?" Suddenly I realized what she was talking about, and my face turned beet red as Sakura began to giggle. "N-no, Sakura-s-san, i-it's not what you t-think, K-Kiba-kun and Shino-k-kun are h-here t-t-too--"

"Kiba and Shino?" Sakura's eyes narrowed as she began to get confused. "I can understand sleeping with Naruto, but with those two too? Shino's a bit creepy, I think. What happened to Mikki-chan?"

_"Wh-What? _N-no, S-Sakura-san, I-I didn't-"

"Hinata-chan? Who you talkin' to?" Someone said behind me, and I almost passed out when I felt someone press against my back, a hand over mine that I had laid on the door. I looked up and behind me and turned even redder when I saw that it was Naruto leaning up against me. His hair was tousled and his eyes were half closed, and he looked absolutely _gorgeous. _He smiled when he saw who was at the door, and that only increased his appeal. "Oh, hi, Sakura-chan, Lee. What are you two doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Sakura replied, casting a mischevious eye down at me. I looked down at my feet, almost reverting to my old habit of poking my index fingers together whenever I was nervous or happy or ashamed, or all three combined.

"Hmm?" He looked down at me, and smiled wider. "Yeah, Hinata-chan stayed the night over here because Shino, Kiba and I kidnapped her."

"Say _what??"_ Sakura cried, eyes as big as dinner plates. Lee stood behind her, eyes just as round.

Naruto just smiled at their stunned faces, closing his eyes in that trademark fox grin. "Hai, come on in and I'll explain everything... I'm surprised you haven't heard yet..."

≈

Sakura and Lee sat side by side on Naruto's couch, gazing down at us with the same look of amazement that they'd had earlier. I began to feel like a fish, trapped inside a bowl while people gawked at me.

Shino, Kiba, Naruto, and I sat on the floor of Naruto's apartment, lined up before the couch. Shino had just finished telling our story, and still the two on the couch hadn't replied. Kiba looked disinterested, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Shino sat still, staring down at the floor and looking pretty uninterested himself. I was struggling not to poke my index fingers together, and Naruto was staring up at the two newcomers with a blank expression, simply waiting for them to reply.

Lee was the first to speak. He stood and whopped Naruto on the back, crying, "Exellent work, my friend! You are going to make a great Hokage!" Naruto waved him away, clutching his chest and trying to draw breath.

Sakura shook her head as if she wasn't particularly enjoying this display. I, however, knew otherwise.

Lee and Sakura had spent increasing amounts of time together in the last year. Sakura didn't like to admit it to herself, but it was obvious to us-- specifically, to Tenten and Ino and I-- that she was beginning to like Lee as more than just a friend. She blushed every time we brought it up in a conversation, and soon after she ended the conversation by threatening to beat us up if we kept asking her about it. Needless to say, we stopped questioning her for a while.

Sakura frowned and looked down at me. "I just can't believe that they were trying to mark you with that seal..."

I cast a curious glance at Naruto and saw that a shadow of sorts had sunk across his features. "Mmhmm... Hey, Sakura-chan, what did you two come here to tell us again?"

"Oh! That's right!" Sakura replied, snapping her fingers. She knew as well as I did that the seal was a touchy subject for Naruto, and she was willing to change the subject if it meant keeping Naruto from getting angry. "The Hokage wants to see you. It sounded important." She turned to Kiba and Shino, who had looked up whenever the Hokage had been mentioned. "She wanted to see you two, too, so I guess it might have something to do with what happened yesterday..." She gazed thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "I couldn't tell for sure, but I think she might've been angry..."

Naruto looked fearfully at Shino and Kiba, who stared back at him with the same expression. They all three scrambled up to their feet, each personally knowing how Tsunade could get when she was angry. Kind of like Sakura.

"Hinata-chan, you stay here!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder at me as the three boys made their way to the exit. "Sakura and Lee will stay with you, won't they?" Without waiting for an answer, Naruto flew out the door after the other two, leaving it wide open in his wake.

≈

We soared down the street, unaware of the strange looks we got from the passing villagers. Shino was probably the one who got the most attention, bulky coat and all. He struggled desperately to keep the hood of his coat over his head while also trying to run full out, a comic sight indeed. I would've laughed if my stomach hadn't been clenching in worry. What did Obaa-chan want to see us about? Yesterday? Oh, crap, I'm gonna get it now...

_At least we saved Hinata. You have that much to be happy about. We can take a few beatings for a friend._

I smiled. _Yeah. Yeah, we can._

I was able to smile the rest of the way to the Hokage tower, entirely content with what I did. Though knowing I was probably going to be beaten to a bloody pulp by Obaa-chan, I didn't worry about it, because I had the knowledge that I had saved Hinata. I wasn't able to smile long, however-- when I greeted the Hokage I nearly got a fist in my face.

"NARUTOOOO!!" Tsunade cried, nearly shattering the windows in her office and scaring the already jittery nin attendant outside her door to fall out of his chair.

"Ack!" I cried, clapping my hands over my ears. Behind me, Kiba and Shino had done the same, the former emitting a low moan as his oversensitive eardrums were rattled in their sockets.

Yanking her fist out of the wall where a new hole was formed, Tsunade continued, not bothering to lower her voice. "You just can't live and let live, can you? You're not back home for half a year and you decide hmm, well, things are finally calm around here, lets go and kidnap the Hyuga heir! And while we're at it, lets land half of the clan in the hospital! That might spice things up a bit!"

Hokage-sama, it's not what you think," Kiba interjected, waving his hands before him in a sign of resignation. "We had to kidnap Hinata, that was the only way to-"

"To what?" Tsunade growled, rounding on the dark haired shinobi. "From what Hiashi told me, you three went and knocked down the wall of the compound and whisked Hinata away while they were training in the garden! Do you really have a reasonable explaination for that?"

Kiba and Shino exchanged confused looks behind my back, and I lowered my hands and cocked my head, frowning. "Nani? Hiashi told you they were training?"

"Hai," The Godaime replied, raising an eyebrow. "Weren't they?"

"Hiashi-sama was about to inscribe the Manji seal on Hinata's forehead," Shino piped up, unflinching even when the fiery woman turned her gaze onto him. "He has recently deemed Hinata too weak to carry on the Hyuga legacy and has instead named his second daughter, Hanabi, the heir. He was about to make Hinata a member of the branch family when we busted into the compound."

For a moment, Tsunade was silent. She sat down on the edge of her desk and stared at her hands, clasped in her lap. Finally, she sighed deeply. "I should've known Hiashi would try and lie to me about this... Naruto, Kiba, Shino... sit down."

We sat down in the three chairs lined up before Obaa-chan's desk, fidgeting. Suddenly, the fifth Hokage seemed older to me, I realized. I was able to see the dark circles under her eyes and the gauntness in her usually rosy cheeks, and I wondered if being Hokage was going to have that effect on me too.

Tsunade began to speak slowly, choosing her words carefully. "... In light of the current situation, I feel it would be best if you three took a mission together."

While Kiba and I puzzled over her words, Shino replied quickly. "You're going to send us out of the village?"

"Huh? Send us out of the village?" I cried, startled by what my peer had said. "But why? I just came back, why should I leave now?"

"Because the Aka-- because Hiashi is a bit worked up right now, and I don't want any conflict inside the village at a time like this," Tsunade replied, catching herself before she said something she might regret. I knew what she was about to say, but Shino and Kiba once again exchanged curious looks.

Tsunade sighed and pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. "Shino, Kiba, will you be so kind as to fetch Hinata for me? I have to talk to her too."

Casting one more curious glance at me, the others left the office, and the room felt quiet and empty with just the two of us. I was the first to speak. "The Akatsuki, Obaa-chan?"

"My Jonin have been coming back with more and more reports of Akatsuki violence, and it's getting a little too close to home," She replied, pressing her palms deeper into her eyesockets. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but with those damn Jinchuriki hunters gaining on us and with what happened yesterday..."

"I understand," I said, staring blankly at the floor before my feet. Tsunade looked up from her palms, eyes wide in surprise.

"You do?" She asked, apparently expecting me to be more affronted at the idea of leaving home so soon. Sure, I wasn't enjoying the fact that I'd have to go on the run again, but at least the village would be safer if I left. I was going to be Hokage someday, after all. Can't be Hokage to a village that's been destroyed. Sacrifices had to be made.

"Hai," I replied, nodding. I threw on a broad smile and looked up at her. "So, what's this 'mission' going to be?"

Seemingly relieved by the fact that I wasn't making a big deal out of this, Tsunade smiled back at me. "You three are going to accompany Kakashi to the Land of the Waterfall to visit a friend of his. There you will stay in the Takigakure for a while, hiding out. When I have recieved information that the Akatsuki have moved away from Konoha-- and once Hiashi has calmed down, obviously-- I will send a letter to Kakashi's friend, and you will be able to come back home. Does that sound okay?"

"Hmm... How long do you think we'll be up there?" I asked, cocking my head to the side as I looked up at her.

She sighed deeply again, and I was once again reminded of how old she looked at the moment. "I don't know, Naruto. As long as it takes for that damn organization to turn their gaze away from the village. I have the feeling war is nearing every day, and while it would be nice to have you here--" I smiled widely at this-- "I just can't risk letting the Akatsuki get their greasy paws on you or Kyuubi."

"Is there a chance we might get attacked on this mission?" I asked slowly, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Ano, it's hard to say..." Tsunade's voice trailed away, and we both heard voices outside her door. Suddenly, it opened, and in came Kiba, followed by Hinata, Shino, Sakura and Lee. The last two had concern written all over their countenances, and the Godaime frowned when she saw them. She hadn't asked Shino and Kiba to bring them in.

"Hokage-sama," Hinata murmured, bowing to Tsunade. The older woman nodded in reply and scooted off of her desk, walking around and sitting in her chair.

"What are Sakura and Lee doing here, Kiba?" Tsunade asked, leaning her elbows on her desk and putting her head in her hands. _You don't need the sake, Tsunade, you don't need it... Okay, yes you do... _

"They stayed with Hinata when we came here," Kiba replied, folding his arms. "We weren't going to leave her on her own in case her father came to see about her, and we were right to. He was knocking on Naruto's door not long after we left."

"Hiashi went to Naruto's house to see Hinata?" Tsunade asked, looking up from her hands. Now this was unexpected.

"Only to say that he disowned her," Shino replied, a hint of anger in his usually apathetic voice. "Tries to make her a Branch member, that fails, so the next option is to throw her out of the clan. What a father."

Hinata remained silent, staring down at the floor of the Hokage's office, face working slightly. Tsunade could just imagine what was going on in her mind-- _What am I going to do now? Where am I going to live now that I can't go home? _She felt sorry for her.

Hinata raised her attention to Tsunade, meeting the elder woman's gaze. "You are sending Naruto-kun, Shino-kun and Kiba-kun on a mission, aren't you, Hokage-sama?"

"Hai," Tsunade replied wearily, wishing the two boys hadn't told the shy shinobi about their upcoming leave. It would just make things harder for the girl, knowing that she was going to have to face this new situation without her teammates and love interest by her side.

"I-I want to go too," Hinata declared, the determined look in her eyes surprising the Godaime. This surprised everyone in the room, including me. I looked up at the dark haired shinobi, surprised that she wanted to go on this mission with us. I guess it shouldn'tve been so surprising, since she didn't have anywhere else to go now that she'd been banished from her clan. Anger flared inside of me at the thought of Hiashi. What kind of parent would try to curse their own daughter with a seal that could kill her, then dump her on the sidewalk because she was saved from her fate?

Tsunade finally decided that Hinata could go with us, along with Lee and Sakura, since they knew about the mission too. She told us all to stay at my house tonight, and that we'd leave with Kakashi before dawn tomorrow. She also warned us not to tell anyone else. We agreed and made our way back to my apartment, talking about the upcoming 'mission.' I remained quiet, the only one who truly knew what this mission was about. My peers could all die on this mission if the Akatsuki attacked. I swore to myself that I wouldn't let that happen. Over my cold, dead body.

That night I slept beside Hinata again, and though the floor was as hard and uncomfortable as ever, I think I slept better that night than I would have had I slept on a mattress of feathers.

≈

That was chapter 2! Hope you like it and please review!! Ikari-kun, I'd love to have your input on it too!


	3. Chapter 3

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Well, here you go. Chapter no. 3! A special thank you to all of you who reviewed my first two chaps:

jabberwalcky, Gaming Ikari, nonengel, PaulRap Raptor, MissNaye, Han-Ko, and Loner Kitsune Girl: Whoop! Thanks for the praise! Hope chappie 3 lives up to your expectations!

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in this story (Actually, I don't even own the first chappie!!) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

/Naruto's POV/

I awoke early the next morning sprawled on my back on the living room floor. The sun wasn't up, but already I felt like I was missing something. Eyes closed, I felt with my right hand for that something, though only my subconscious could tell you what at that point. I found it, a small hand that had found it's way from under the covers in the night. I took hold of the hand, smiling to myself. The small hand was warm and seemed to warm my entirety with it's touch. I smiled wider and tried to go back to sleep.

Suddenly, I felt like I was being watched. I waited for the feeling to go away for a few minutes, but fiinally I could stand it no longer. I opened my eyes to see a masked figure crouched over me, messy silver hair hanging everywhere. The figure smiled at me, his one visible eye crinkling up.

The first thing I did in reply was take in a breath. The second thing I did was scream.

"AHHHHH KAKASHI SENSEI WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?!?!" I screamed, flailing my arms and legs wildly. The dark haired girl beside me immediately woke and began to scream too, and our voices combined woke up the other for sleeping beside us. When Lee was awakened, he saw the man standing over my head and immediately jumped over towards him, attempting to kick him in midair to get him away from me, apparently thinking he was a rouge ninja.

Kakashi stood straight and reached out, catching Lee by the ankle. "Whoa, whoa, Lee, calm down," He said, voice as apathetic as it always had been. A twinkle could be seen in his visible eye, and I could tell he was smiling. "I know my team and Team Gai have always been rivals, but to attack the sensei? Shame, Lee, shame."

"Kakashi sensei?" Lee asked, eyes as wide as dinner plates as he looked up at the man who'd grabbed his ankle, dangling helplessly.

"Ka-Kakashi sensi, put him down!" Sakura cried, voice filled with concern rather than humor as she watched Kakashi continue to dangl Lee by his ankle. The man shrugged and dropped Lee, who landed with an "Oof!" on the floor. Seeing this, Sakura looked like she was just barely stopping herself from running to Lee's side, asking him if he was okay.

"Back to Naruto's question, how _did _you get inside, Kakashi sensei?" Shino asked, rubbing sleep from behind his dark glasses.

Kakashi shrugged. "Naruto didn't lock the door. Honestly, Naruto, that's not really all that smart. Someone--" Kakashi shot me a warning glance, and I knew who he was talking about-- "could've walked in during the night and killed you all, you know."

"Okay, okay, give it a rest already," I grumbled, standing up slowly. Stretching, I mumbled, " Just let me shower real quick and then we can get on the road."

"Oh no, not this time, Naruto," Kakashi shook his head, earning a dissaproving glare from me. "We'll all be able to take showers once we get away from the village, but for now we need to leave when no one's awake to see us go."

"Fine," I grumbled again, folding my arms. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and for some reason the touch calmed me. I looked over and saw Hinata, smiling at me through the dark.

I smiled back, my entire mood changed by simply gazing at this girl. In my fully conscious state, I couldn't remember that hers was the hand that I'd groped for earlier, before Kakashi sensei had walked into my apartment. Though her touch calmed me, it also brought my senses about me also. I wasn't going to let another incident like this happen. If the wrong someone had walked through that door, all of our lives would be over, even this tender, sweet, shy girl beside me. I wouldn't-- no, _couldn't--_ let an incident like this happen again and threaten the lives of my friends. On my nindo, I swore.

≈

Kakashi allowed Sakura, Lee, Shino and Kiba to run to their houses and pack "only the necessities", claiming that Tsunade had told their parents that they were going on a mission that morning and wouldn't be back for a while. He also told us that she'd informed Iruka sensei and the Hyuga family of this news, though the latter didn't seem to care much. Hiashi had told the Hokage that he'd gotten rid of all Hinata's clothes and such, claiming that he shouldn't keep objects that didn't belong to the family. Tsunade had replied by giving Hiashi a bit of a lecture. For lying to her about Hinata's misfortune, Tsunade had subjected him to house arrest, forbidding him to leave the household and informing him that the entire clan would be watched over by ANBU officers. Leaving the steaming man, Kakashi said that Tsunade was quite proud of how she'd handled Hinata's spiteful father.

After hearing that Hinata had nothing to take with her, I felt bad for her. After packing a bag of my own, I got another out of my closet and threw in one of my extra toothbrushes and a bottle of toothpaste. I also put one of my pairs of Gama-chan pajamas in her pack, one that didn't quite fit me anymore-- Hey, I like frog jammies! What's wrong with that?-- and I also put in a frog nightcap. As a bit of an afterthought, I put in a picture of her and myself posing while sitting on the Hokage monuments, a photo that had been taken about a month after I'd returned from my trip with the Toad Senin. I also put in the ointment that she'd given me so long ago, but then decided against it-- instead I put it into my own pack, feeling a bit uncomfortable without it. Don't ask me why-- I didn't even know myself.

Once I'd finished packing, I went back into the living room, where Hinata and Kakashi were sitting on the couch waiting for the others to return. I handed Hinata her bag, smiling widely. "Can't leave without the necessities, can we, Hinata-chan?"

In reply, she smiled up at me. Not the half smile she always used to favor me with, but a broad grin that made her eyes close. "Arigatou, Naruto-kun." Her smile almost mirrored my own, and I was stunned with how pretty she looked when she smiled like that. I made a note to make her smile more often, then plopped down beside her.

Whenever the others finally got back, it was almost sunrise. "We're running late," Kakashi muttered, glancing at the watch on his wrist before announcing that we were leaving. "Naruto, please, lock your door this time, would you?" All he got from me was a glare, but at least I remembered to lock my door this time.

We launched ourselves over the rooftops, seven ninja and one overgrown dog, silently heading for the wall that ran around the entire village. We jumped the wall, and right afterwards Kakashi told us to take off our forehead protectors.

"Nani? Are you kidding?" I cried, counenance incredulous as I looked up at my sensei. This forehead protector was the only symbol I had to show people that I was a ninja, a sign that I was going to be Konoha's strongest one day. How could I show people that I was so strong if I didn't wear my forehead protector?

He raised an eyebrow at me, slipping his own band off of his head and letting his silver hair go absolutely crazy. "According to the Hokage, this is an S-ranked mission, and we need to lay low until we get to my friend's house. I don't need to remind you what those words mean, do I, Naruto?"

I grumbled as I slipped my forehead protector off, throwing it in my pack. Kakashi started to walk, and I followed after. It wasn't until we'd gone about five feet away from the wall when we noticed that the others weren't following. We turned to see the five of them plus Akamaru staring at us, having either taken their forehead protectors off or was in the process of doing so. Twelve pairs of incredulous eyes were locked on Kakashi, and he frowned back at them. "What are you all doing? C'mon, Kiba, take that thing off. Why are you all staring at me?"

"Y-you just said S-ranked mission," Sakura whispered, eyes wide. She clutched at Lee's arm, who turned slightly pink as she held on to him.

"B-but we're all o-only Ch-Chu-Chunin!" Hinata squeaked, eyes misting over once again.

"Naruto's only a Genin," Kiba reminded her faintly, untying his forehead protector as he spoke. Akamaru whined in agreement.

"How do you expect us to pull off this mission? We're so low in rank..." Even Shino looked apprehensive as he tucked his forehead protector away in his pack.

I marched back to them all, hands on my hips. "Does the rank make the ninja? Look at me! I'm a Genin, yet I was able to defeat the _genius _Neji, and I almost won against Sasuke!" Both Sakukra and I winced at the mention of our old friend's name, but I couldn't let that stop my speech. "If the Chunin exams hadn't been postponed three years ago, those two might've even become Jonin! Did my rank allow me to beat Hinata's cousin that day? No! Does the rank make the ninja? You answer that." I turned around and marched back to Kakashi, praying to the Gods that my peers followed. If they didn't, then they really believed that the rank made the ninja, that they were weak if they weren't a higher rank, and they would be useless on this mission.

Kakashi fell into place beside me, and I snuck a peek behind me. Sure enough, all five of my friends had dropped into place. I smiled and turned back around, screaming _Yes! Yahhh! How's _that _for motivational speaking, Iruka sensei?! _in my head.

The wide grin on my face was still shining brightly whenever the sun began to warm our backs. I was happier than I'd been in a long while. My friends all believed in me now. More importantly, they believed in themselves. That's what really made me happy. Sadly, my joy didn't last long as Kakashi offhandedly told us that we'd have to travel like normal people, actually _walking _instead of jumping through the trees, at least for a while.

"NANI?!?" I yelled, scaring drowsy birds out of the trees above. "But why?"

"The concept of _laying low _is foreign to you, isn't it?" Kakashi replied, putting emphasis on the two words. Not exactly the answer I was looking for.

"I know what _laying low _means!" I growled back, putting the same emphasis on the words, trying to mock him.

As if he didn't even hear my reply, Kakashi suddenly turned to Hinata. "Hinata, activate you Byakugan."

Looking slightly concerned, Hinata nodded and activated her bloodlimit. What she saw nearly made her faint. "There's four of them," She gasped, eyes wide with worry. "Two on either side, up in the trees. They're closing fast. They sort of look like ANBU officers, but something's wrong with their masks. I don't know..."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you, Hinata." Slowly, he reached up and pulled his mask down, only enough to reveal his sharingan eye to be shown. He hissed. "UBNA."

As if called to place, four nin leapt out of the trees, one behind us, one on either side of us, and one before us, facing Kakashi. Their outfits did look a lot like the ANBU's did, black and silver with some armor, but their masks weirded me out for some reason. They were shaped like animals, sure, but somethng was wrong with them.

Sakura tugged on my shoulder, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "Their eyes, Naruto. Look at their eyes!"

I looked. Sure enough, the eyes of the masks shimmered crimson. Not only that, but they were mere slits instead of the round eyes traditional ANBU officers have decorating their masks. Apparently Hinata was frightened by the crimson slits too, becuase she gasped and scooted a little closer to me.

"Name the village with whom you are affiliated, sir," The nin before Kakashi declared, folding his arms.

"We are loyal to no village," Kakashi lied, turning his head so that his sharingan eye was hidden behind his mass of silver hair. He hoped they were going to be able to get out of this without a fight, but with the UNBA you could never be sure what was going to happen.

The nin before Kakashi suddenly unfolded his arms and leaned forward, as if he was surprised. "Hey, wait a minute... You're Copy Ninja Kakashi, aren't you?"

_Shit. _"What makes you say so?" This was bound to get messy.

The nin chuckled while his subordinates shared glances. "Don't be so modest, Hatake. It's been forever since we've seen each other! You're gonna lie to us already?"

All of a sudden a kunai whizzed past Kakashi's head and impaled itself in the ninja's shoulder pad. "What the--" The kunai exploded, apparently attached with an exploding tag, and the man's arm was blown apart. Screaming, the nin went down.

A shadow clone of myself appeared behind the nin before Sakura and I and kicked him up into the air, screaming "NA!" Another clone appeared before me, and I jumped off of his back into the air. When I reached the nin, I kicked him up farther, calling out "RU!" A clone jumped up to me, then used me as a stepping stone to reach the nin. He kicked him up even farther, screaming "TO!". I jumped up to him using several other clones to reach him, and I plus four other clones kicked the nin back down to the ground, finishing the move: "UZUMAKI SUPER RENDAN!" The nin hit the ground, a bloody pulp of the man he used to be.

One of the remaining nin began to scream, clutching at his mask. Bugs were crawling from Shino's sleeves up the nin's body to slip under the mask, and apparently they were mutilating his face from underneath. While he was preoccupied, Hinata launched herself at him, hitting his vital chakra points. When she was done, she moved and Sakura jumped in, landing a solid punch against his chest. The nin flew backwards, no longer screaming, and hit a tree.

The last nin was dealt with accordingly. Smiling serenely, Kba handed Lee a bottle of sake, and the green clad nin took a swig. All of a sudden, he started swaying back and forth. The final masked ninja, though frightened, chuckled. "How's a drunken opponent going to defeat me?"

That was a question that need not have been asked.

Lee went out of control. He was a blur, attacking the nin from one side, then another. The man tried to block the attacks, but his attempts were futile. Lee's final attack, a drop kick to the head, sent the nin crashing to the ground, body disformed and brusied.

Kiba and I seized either one of Lee's arms, and Sakura shoved a blue pill down his throat as we held him back. After a moment, he calmed, and his eyelids drooped as he began to snore. "Kiba and I laid him down, our eyes as big as dinner plates. "Hey, Sakura-chan, what was that pill you gave him?" I asked, smiling admiringly up at her. "That pill put him right to sleep!"

Sakura grinned as she gazed down at the now snoozing Lee. "It's a pill I developed a while back. It counters the effects of alchohol on the body and puts the user to sleep until they can function normally again. Works really fast, doesn't it?" Kiba and I nodded, and we continued to watch Lee sleep until a voice brought us back to the present.

"Bravo, Hatake, bra-_vo,_" The first nin said, standing. He clutched at the bloody stump that used to be his arm and hissed in pain, though a sinister smirk spread across his lips as he looked at the group. "I can't believe your students actually defeated my subordinates. You've trained them well. I can see we have our work cut out for us with this generation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do..."

Before Kakashi could stop him, the nin vainished in a puff of red smoke, as did the bodies of his teammates.

"Dammit," Kakashi hissed, and turned to the six of us. "Well, _that _went well." With a slightly visible glint in his eyes, he asked, "Who threw the kunai with the exploding tag attached?"

"Me," Sakura admitted, bowing her head. "I had a feeling that those creeps were gonna attack us anyway, so I thought, 'Well, why don't we make the first move?' Gomen, I know it was kinda stupid of me, but--"

"Sakura, I'm proud of you," Kakashi interrupted, causing the girl's head to snap up. "I myself was thinking of a way to get us out of that little predicament, and I had no ideas whatsoever. I'm just gland I've got such a quick-witted team watching my back." Tugging the mask back over his sharingan eye, he winked at us all. Before turning forwards again, he glanced down at me. "Did you just make that technique up, Naruto?"

Smiling a little sheepishly, I nodded. "Hai. I guess I got caught up in the moment or something." I missed the look of approval and praise that I got from a pair of lavender eyes behind me.

Kakashi grinned wider and turned around, walking forwards again. "You know, that was great teammwork back there. I can't imagine how you six were chosen for this mission, but I can't imagine it being a success without each and every one of you. You do realize, though, that another battle with the UBNA will be more difficult. I expect those four were simply scouts, and plus we took them by surprise, so they didn't have any time to fight back."

"Who are they?" I asked, running up to walk beside our sensei.

"Hai, Kakashi sensei, who are the UBNA and how do you know them?" Sakura added, walking on the opposite side of Kakashi.

The apathy was back in his voice as he replied, "That is a question for a later date."

"UBNA? Opposite of ANBU," Shino mused, watching Kiba lay the unconscious Lee akwardly on Akamaru's back.

"Mmm, strange," Kiba muttered, absentmindedly scratching Akamaru's head as he walked beside him. "Maybe they're a sister organization or something."

"But, why were they asking what village we came from?" Hinata added, dropping in beside Kiba. "And why were they going to attack us, even when they knew who Kakashi sensei was?"

"Enough questions, all of you," Kakashi called, silencing his students. "I promise I'll answer your questions later, but for right now let's just walk in silence. Hinata, every few minutes or so I want you to scan the area around us for more followers. Okay?"

"Hai, Kakashi sensei."

"You still got more of those exploding tags, Sakura?"

"Got a whole bag of them, sensei," Sakura replied with a smile, shaking her pack.

"Kiba, I'm not one to lecture, but where did you get that sake? And, while we're on the subject, do you have more?"

Grinning sheepishly, Kiba nodded slowly. "Okaa-san gave me the sake. She told me that I might need something to drink on this trip... Ano, I've got three more full bottles left, plus the one Lee drank out of."

"Good." His answer surprised us all, and I began to snicker. So far, this trip had been sort of fun.

We reached a small village by sundown and had the luck to find a motel that still had room for us. We rented three rooms, one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for Kakashi sensei-- I asked him why he needed his own, and I got bonked on the head for asking-- and after we'd unpacked, we met outside of the hotel. We went out for supper since we were all practically starving, and then we came back to the hotel. I myself was exhausted, and I'd fallen asleep before my head had even hit the pillow.

Hai, so far this trip _has_ been sort of fun.

≈

So there it is, the awaited third chappie! Hope you liked it, tell me how I'm doing!! Thank you all for reading my fics, it means so much to me!! ARIGATOU!!


	4. Chapter 4

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Chappie four is UP! I apolegize to all those who were wanting a quick chapter five, but today I'm going to my mother's house to spend a week, and surprise surprise-- she has no computer!! (Begins sobbing openly all over the fan's shoulders) Sniff... (Blows nose on your shirt) I'll update when I get back next weekend, I promise! Love you all and bear with me, ne?

XOX to all of those who reviewed my third chapter: rhapsodicoutburst, Gaming Ikari, Vld, PuppyWoofwoof-13, Crazy Neko Girl, PaulRap Raptor, Lady Arianrhod, and MissNaye. Cupcakes to all who review this chapter!

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in this story (Actually, I don't even own the first chappie!!) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

Apparently, Sakura and Hinata weren't as tired as Naruto was.

Sakura sat on her still made bed, holding a pillow in her lap and gazing over at Hinata. "So, Hinata, what do you think?"

"Hmm?" Hinata asked, looking up. She was laying in bed, tucked away under the covers, holding the picture that Naruto had put in her pack above her. She just couldn't get over how happy they looked in that picture... If she hadn't known better, she would've assumed that the two teens lounging on the rocky head of the Fourth were a couple. Naruto had an arm around her waist, she had an arm around his neck, and they faced away from the village so that it was in the background. Naruto was grinning his trademark grin, leaning his head towards Hinata. She herself was blushing like crazy, but was smiling nevertheless. Hai, had she been oblivious to the cold reality of the world, she would've thought that these two were together, a happy couple that could face anything the world threw at them if they were simply side by side.

But that was never to be.

"You know..." Sakura grinned mischeviously over at Hinata, and the shy girl realized what she was going to ask about. "What do you think about Naruto now? Do you think he likes you?"

"Ano... I don't know..." Hinata replied, frowning and pressing the framed picture to her heart. Oh, how she wished she could tell him how she really felt...

"I do," Sakura said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms above the pillow in her lap. "I mean, why else would he come and rescue you? Hmm? He had to be worried sick about you to go against your entire clan like that."

"Hai, that's what he said," Hinata mumbled, reluctant to get her hopes up but reveling in his newfound care for her. Apparently Sakura enjoyed this fact also-- she let out a short-lived squeal of excitement.

"Aww, that's so cute! Plus, he gave you a pair of his 'hallowed' frog pajamas," She added, nodding at the slightly ridiculous frog nightcap Hinata had pulled over her dark hair. "See, even a dobe like Naruto'll be able to realize his feelings sooner or later!" Suddenly her countenance darkened as she realized what word she'd just used to insult her teammate with.

_That was always... The word _he _used..._

Hinata apparently noticed this change in attitude too, because she sat up suddenly. "Sakura-san? Are you alright?" She had heard Sasuke call Naruto a dobe on numerous occasions, but she'd never heard anyone else use it until now.

"Um, yeah, I-I'm fine," Sakura replied, trying to get her breathing under control. Though her feelings for Sasuke had all but downgraded from 'love interest' to 'dear friend', she still missed him deeply. Missed that scowl that he favored Naruto with, missed the rare smiles she got, missed the occasional tender moments she'd had with him...

Hinata smiled kindly at her friend. "You know, Sakura-san, if you want to talk, I'm here." If there was one thing Hyuga Hinata prided herself on, it was her ability to listen, to really listen to others and make blunt but truthful statements about their situations. Most of the time, she used this ability to encourage people, like that time before the final rounds of the Chunin exam nearly three years ago when she renewed Naruto's confidence in himself. That was one of the very few times when she'd actually admired _herself, _not someone else for her inner strength.

Sakura smiled back at Hinata, glad she had someone so nice as Hinata as a friend. "Arigatou, Hinata. I'll hold you to that promise."

Nodding, Hinata threw on a slightly mischevious smile and turned on her side, sitting the framed picture on her bedside stand. She was going to try and ask Sakura about what she felt for a certain green clad peer without the aid of Ino or Tenten. "Hey, Sakura-san, can I ask you something?"

Sakura put on a look of scepticism as she glanced over at the dark haired shinobi. "As long as it has nothing to do with Lee, hai."

After exchanging looks, the girls giggled.

They continued to talk about the opposite sex long into the night, a topic that Naruto couldn't seem to get out of his mind. He tossed and turned on the small cot he'd had to sleep on-- he and Kiba had had to crash in a couple of cots from the closet because there was only two beds available in the room. Earlier, Naruto hadn't cared that he had to sleep in a cot, because he'd been dead to the world tired. Now, around two in the morning, he'd awoken and couldn't seem to get back to sleep for the thoughts of a certain dark haired girl invading his thoughts. Why was she keeping him awake? Hinata was just a friend, nothing more. He couldn't get her or the time they'd spent together out of his head, and one event stuck in his mind more prominently than the others-- that time they'd taken their picture on the Hokage monuments. Now he wished he'd packed that photo in with his stuff, thinking that maybe if he looked at it he'd be able to go to sleep.

He tugged the ridiculous frog nightcap over his eyes, muttering, "Kuso, Hinata-chan, why can't I stop thinking about you?"

"Naruto-kun?"

Hearing those words, Naruto's ears perked up, thinking that maybe Hinata had come to visit him or something. He sat up in his cot, glancing around the dark room for her figure. He couldn't see anything. "Hinata-chan?"

"Naruto-kun, are you awake?"

His heart sank as he realized that the person whispering his name was not Hinata, but Lee. He allowed himself to fall back onto his pillow, grumbling, "What, Lee?"

"Um... Can we talk?" Lee sounded nervous and slightly serious.

Naruto frowned as he glanced over to his right, where he saw Lee poke his head over the bed he laid on. What was Lee acting so nervous about? "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Mmm, ano... G-girls."

Naruto's face involuntarily flushed as Lee spoke, wondering why he wanted to talk about _them _when Naruto himself couldn't get a certain one out of his thoughts. "Uh, okay... You start."

"Okay... Naruto-kun, say, you like this girl, and you tell her, but she openly admits that she only likes you as a friend becasue you're not mature enough to like her like you're telling her you do. So, you wait a few years, you mature, and you check your feelings again... And you notice that your feelings for this girl have only tripled in the time you've waited, but it's something more, something deeper. You think your heart's about to burst with all that you're holding back, but you don't want to tell her how you feel again becasue you're afraid that she's going to reject you again. With your feelings being what they are now, though, you don't think you can face rejection again. What would you do?"

Naruto's first reaction to this was to blink. His second reaction was to blurt out "Damn, Lee, I didn't know you were that messed up..."

"W-what?" The boy peeked farther over the edge of his bed, voice nearly squeaking with disbelief.

Slapping a hand to his forehead, Naruto quickly apolegized. "No, no, nevermind that, gomenasai... Well, if I was in that situation, I don't really know what I'd do."

"Oh.." Lee pulled his head away from the edge of the bed, trying to hide his look of dissapointment from his friend. He was hoping Naruto would be able to give him the solution to his problem, but he guessed that it was too much to hope for. He was doomed to be forever torn in two, with one side wanting to confess everything to the heavens above and the other wanting to take his secret to the grave.

Sort of like how Hinata felt.

"Hmm... What would _you _do if you were in this situation, Lee?" Naruto asked innocently, knowing that Lee had been talking about himself and Sakura-chan the entire time. He had a feeling that Sakura felt more for Lee than she had been letting on to anybody, and he hoped his feeling was right. He knew how Lee felt, having chased after Sakura himself for longer than he could remember. Slowly but surely, he was getting over her, as he was sure she was getting over Sasuke, and maybe, just maybe Lee had a chance.

_"Me??" _Lee asked incredulously, not expecting that question. Even as he said the word, he came to a decision, not one to sit and think about things much, just to act on what his heart told him aand ask questions later. "I would tell her. I would rather her know how I feel and reject me than for her never to know. Besides, who knows? Maybe she feels the same way. 'It's better to love and lose it than to never love at all' as I think the saying goes."

Naruto shook his head at Lee's bad translation of the foreign saying, and was about to correct him when Lee said something that quieted him.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I wish I had half your luck..."

"Nani?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused now. As far as he could tell, he had horrible luck. Having no parents and no clan, being stuck with this damn demon inside of him, growing up as a lonely troublemaking outsider... As far as he could tell, his luck really _sucked._

"... Having a girl that admires and worships you for who and what you are... Seeing your faults and loving you anyway... It must be nice..."

"NANI?? What in the _hell _are you talking about, Lee?" Naruto hissed, heart vibrating a little too quickly against his ribcage. He began to wonder if Lee was still feeling the effects of the sake he'd drank earlier.

"Oh dear, I do believe I've said too much," Lee gasped, realizing that he'd just spilled one secret that Tenten had forbidden him to. She'd been talking to him about who all the girls of the village liked one day, and that was what she'd told him about Hinata-chan. She'd then cursed about how much of a baka Naruto was for not realizing the shy girl's _obvious _feelings. Lee couldn't say he didn't agree with his teammate-almost-sister about that one.

"Lee?! Who were you talking about?" Naruto asked, punctuating each syllable in his sentence. He wanted to know who felt that way about him. As he talked, he simultaneously grew angrier and racked his mind for the girls in the village that he knew, marking them off one by one.

"Snore... Snore," Lee whispered, pretending to be asleep.

_"Leeeeee... Tell me, or else I get the bed, hmm?" _Naruto hissed, realizing with a jolt how much he sounded like Kyuubi at that point.

_Whoa, Naruto-kun sounds really scary when he's angry..._

Naruto lanched himself up off of his cot, walking over to the side of Lee's bed. He threw the covers off of the other boy, lifted him up, and tossed him onto the abandoned cot. Hopping into the warm bed, he threw the covers over his legs, satisfied that he'd get an answer now. _"Told you I'd take your bed. I might give it back if you tell me who you were talking about, ne? Lee? _Lee?"

His questions were answered by a real snore. Lee had already fallen asleep on the cot, peaceful and satisfied smile penetrating the barriers of sleep.

Naruto tossed and turned on the bed as he had on the cot, anger and thoughts of any girl who might actually like him keeping him wide awake for the remainder of the night.

≈

Yes, short and pretty much a filler chapter, I know, but the action is coming! I just couldn't resist this part at the end with Lee and Naruto! Haha poor Lee! Remember, you all get cupcakes if you review again! (I've seen other authors on this website offer snacks and stuff to their reviewers, and I thought I might try it once!) See you all in a week!


	5. Chapter 5

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Hello, my fans, it's chapter 5! I am happy to say that I lived through the week at my mom's, and now I'm back at work (with a cold, no doubt). Through my runny eyes I read all of the wonderful reviews I recieved on no. 4, and I am thankful for all of the support I'm getting. This is turning out to be a very intriguing storyline, and I can't wait to dish out some more magic! Thank you all for sticking with me & I apolegize (again) for the week I was gone!

Hugs and kisses to all who reviewed: Raiton GUNDAM, rhunter42dragon, Crazy Neko Girl, Gaming Ikari, Tsukiko The Librarian, PaulRap Raptor, Chronostorm, and vnvanman. Your support is what keeps me going, XOX you all! (To those who were waiting on their snacks, I apolegize-- I burnt the first batch of cupcakes, and the second one went to the dog because I used salt instead of sugar in them. Sorry!!)

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in this story (Actually, I don't even own the first chappie!!) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

"Aww man, why is Kakashi sensei taking so long?!" Naruto whined, running his fingers through his wet hair. Taking a shower had done nothing to curb his bad mood, he'd found.

"Geez, Naruto, calm down," Kiba muttered, leaning against the wall and folding his arms.

"I don't know, Naruto's right," Sakura growled, putting her head in her hands. "Kakashi sensei has been in the shower for at least half an hour. I wonder what he's doing..."

_Those two sure are grouchy this morning, _Lee thought, leaning up against the wall beside Kiba. He and the others were sitting outside the small motel, waiting on their sensei. Shino, Kiba and Lee himself all stood beside each other, leaning up against the building's brick wall. Sakura and the other two sat down on the sidewalk, and, from the looks of things, neither member of Team 7 had gotten any sleep the night before. Hinata tried not to show it, but Lee could tell that she was exhausted as well.

The motel door opened and closed softly. "Yo."

"Ugh, _finally, _sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, leaping up onto his feet. Turning around to face Kakashi, he continued. "You think you could've taken any longer to..." His words trailed away when he laid eyes on his sensei. Or, at least, he _thought _it was him. He couldn't tell for sure now.

Kakashi had cut his hair. His silver locks were now only about an inch or so long, and stood up in messy spikes all over his head. A black bandana replaced his forehead protector, and it covered his eye much like the forehead protector had. He still wore the dark mask, and his dress was still pretty much the same, besides the fact that he'd ditched the Chunin vest. A humorous twinkle could be seen in his eye as he witnessed Naruto and the others' reactions to his transformation.

"Ano... Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked, eyes as wide as dinner plates as she stared at the silver haired Jonin. Kiba and Lee's expressions mirrored her own, and even Hinata had trouble keeping her mouth closed in her surprise. Shino's razor sharp eyebrows were lost int he shadows of his hood, having arched high above his glasses.

"Hai? C'mon, now, you six look like you've just seen a ghost," Kakashi chided, grinning at them all. "Hey, do I really look that different?"

Akamaru barked in response, eyes as wide as his master's.

Kakashi's one visible eye glazed over, and he huffed. "Whatever. C'mon, let's go."

They left the village and walked on in the woods, and not long after Hinata detected someone following them again. She identified them as the UBNA, and Kakashi sternly told them to act normal.

"I know what they're doing now," He said offhandedly, not bothering to keep his voice down. "They're simply observing us. They know that you six aren't just ordinary nin now, and they know to keep their distance for a while. It isn't exactly the easiest way to travel, being tailed by someone and knowing you can't do anything about it, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. We'll be better off whenever we reach the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of the Waterfall."

"But, sensei, can't we just ditch them somehow?" Naruto asked, tucking his fists away in his pockets.

"No, Naruto, that would just make things more difficult for us in the end," Kakashi replied, shaking his head. "They'd find us, and then they would show no mercy towards us. We'd probably get attacked, and the battle would be more difficult than yesterday's was. Remember, yesterday we caught them off guard."

"This is just a guess, sensei, but do the UBNA originate in the Land of the Waterfall?" Sakura asked.

"... That's correct, Sakura," Kakashi said, turning so that he could look back at his students. "Hai, they claimed to be a sister organization to the ANBU when they first started out, but after a while they stopped serving the Hidden Villages. No one knows why." His voice was as apathetic as it usually was, but somehow, it betrayed the fact that their sensei wasn't telling them all he knew.

The six shinobi waited for Kakashi to elaborate, but he never did. After a while of walking in silence, Naruto got bored and decided to talk to his teammates. He walked over to Hinata and casually started a conversation. "So, Hinata-chan, do you like those pajamas?"

She smiled shyly up at him, a light blush blooming in her cheeks. "They're very comfortable, Naruto-kun. I can see why you like them so much now."

They smiled awkwardly at each other for a few minutes before they heard giggling behind them. Hinata blushed and Naruto turned to look, his face also slightly red. Behind them was Sakura, covering her mouth with her hands, barely containing the giggle that was fighting to escape. Beside her, Kiba and Lee were also chuckling.

"Aww, Naruto, it's just too cute," Sakura cried, squealing joyfully.

"WHAT'S IT TO YOU, SAKURA?!" Naruto growled, only succeeding in making Sakura and the others laugh harder. In a pitiful attempt to hide his deepening blush from the others, he huffed at the tree and turned around, leaning over to Hinata and whispering, "Don't pay attention to them, Hinata-chan. They're just trying to embarass us."

She looked up at him, smiling broadly when she saw his crimson face. "I-I don't mind..."

"You don't?" Naruto asked, eyebrows raised. Hinata shook her head, and that along with her beautiful smile changed his mind. "Well, I guess I don't either. Can't let something bother me when it doesn't bother the most patient person in the world, ne?"

While Hinata blushed happily, Sakura shook her head at the irony of Naruto's words. _You don't know the half of it, Naruto. She's waited all of these years just for you to notice her. I personally think she's _too _patient... I don't think I could've waited for Sasuke this long..._

"Hey, sensei, do you think I might be able to send a letter back home soon?" Kiba piped up, scratching the back of his neck with a hand.

Naruto turned, a mischievous smile crossing his lips. "Missin' Mikki-chan already?" He teased, walking backwards.

Before Kiba could reply, Naruto tripped over a stray root, landing hard on his back. "Oof!" All the air in his lungs rushed out in a clean swipe, and he found himself breathless, gazing up into a pair of light lavender eyes. He smiled in spite of himself, wondering why he was so happy when he'd just got the air kicked out of him.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked, eyes wide with concern. She had to back up as Akamaru stepped over the blonde, covering his face in dog slobber.

"Ugh! Kiba-- get your-- damn dog off-- of me!" Naruto cried, periodically closing his mouth as the large pink tongue trailed over his face. He gasped for breath when Kiba called Akamaru off-- "Down boy! Down!"-- and struggled to his feet. "Where did that root come from, anyway?"

"We're getting closer to our destination, Naruto," Kakashi stated, stopping and turning around to face them all. "Soon, the forest will end and the ground will become rockier. Even now you can see where the rocks underground are forcing the roots of the trees up past the surface." The silver haired Jonin turned to Kiba. "I can't allow you to send anything until we get to Shinji's house. Once there, I was told to send a report back to the Hokage to keep her updated on our conditions. I guess anyone who wants to send a letter back to Konoha can do so then." He nodded at his students, and then turned around and began to walk again. "Hinata?"

"Hai, Kakashi sensei?"

"Scan the area."

"Hai." Hinata instantly activated the Byakugan and looked around. Her eyes narrowed, and Naruto was instantly tense, ready for an attack. This showed in their peers also-- Sakura had a hand on her pocket, where her kunai rested; Kiba, still riding on Akamaru's back, had turned his gaze upwards, focusing his sensitive ears on any unfamiliar sound he heard; Lee was clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly, ready for any attack they might recieve, and Shino had his head bowed so that they enemy wouldn't see the bugs inching out from under his coat, crawling down his front and going off into the trees, scouting the surrounding area.

"Hinata?"

"There's no one following us anymore, sensei," Hinata replied, still scanning the area. She was hesitant to believe their stalkers would just up and leave them alone all of a sudden. As far as she'd seen, the UBNA was interested in Kakashi sensei, and apparently they'd met before. She guessed that their meeting had not been a friendly one, and perhaps the group wanted revenge. Hinata knew of no ninja who would allow their enemies to run amok without keeping an eye on them, and she wondered if the nin were using a Genjutsu to cover their movements.

"Nani? Where'd they go?" Naruto questioned, casting his weary cerulean eyes over the surrounding forest.

"Did they run off?" Lee whispered. Sakura glanced over at him and wasn't surprised to see his jaw clenching visibly.

Kakashi didn't answer or turn to look at them. He continued to walk forward like nothing had happened, and Sakura suddenly found herself angry. _Very_ angry. "Kakashi sensei!" She hissed, surprising the others. Glaring at the back of his head, she continued. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about this? Tell us what the UBNA are doing, sensei! Why'd they leave?" She was surprised with the speed with which she'd gotten angry. Never before had anger flared so high in her chest, but now she was almost angry enough at the silver haired Jonin to attack him. She was barely able to hold herself back.

A few seconds passed and still Kakashi did not answer. The seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into hours. Sakura had cooled down during this time and was now chatting animatedly with Hinata. Lee, Kiba and Naruto were talking about new techniques they were just itching to try out, and Shino remained silent, walking behind their sensei with his hands tucked inside the pockets of his coat. Kakashi was quiet also, leading the teens on into the afternoon.

The group passed a few more villages, but Kakashi wouldn't let them stop. "If we keep going, we should be at the country border by sunrise tomorrow morning." The teens objected, Naruto more so than the others, but the silver haired Jonin wouldn't have it. Ignoring their complaints, he walked onwards, and they grudgingly followed. The teens didn't object for long, though-- they were soon captivated by their changing surroundings. The forest had ended, and the ground had become rockier. Large grey boulders jutted up from the ground on either side of the well worn path they walked, and strange plants were growing in between the cracks. Hinata had been drawn towards the flowers the most, especially a particular bus the group passed on the way. Kakashi described it only as a 'lilac bush', and didn't pay any attention to the beautiful lavender blooms blossoming all over the bush. She wanted one of the flowers, but their sensei told them that they needed to keep going, so she tore her eyes away from the bush and continued on.

At sundown, the group was entirely exhaustedx, and finally Kakashi relented on them. He led them into a large cave in the side of a rocky mountain and told them that this was where they'd be sleeping for the night. "Excellent cover, and it's in a remote location," he mused, talking more to himself than to his students. "It'd be hard to find if anyone was trying to find us, even them..." After telling the teens not to go too far away from the cave, Kakashi sat down in a dark corner, refusing to talk to any of them.

The six shinobi and Akamaru all met at the mouth of the cave after putting their packs down. "Man, I'm beat," Kiba sighed, plopping down beside his white behemoth of a dog. Akamaru laid down, resting his large head on Kiba's leg.

"I am too," Sakura said, leaning against the wall of the cave. She allowed herself to slide slowly down the wall until she sat against it, leaning her head against the rock. "Kakashi sensei is really intent on getting to this Shinji's house, isn't he?"

"Hai, he is," Hinata agreed, sitting down on the other side of Akamaru. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she mused, "I wonder why he's been acting so odd lately... "This UBNA group do seem to worry him a lot."

"Maybe it's because they're extra strong," Naruto replied, walking up beside Hinata. Stretching, he sighed as his back popped. "Hmm... This would be a good time to train a little. Hey, Lee, wanna spar?"

Lee was overjoyed in a heartbeat. "Hai, Naruto-kun! If we get stronger, maybe Kakashi sensei will not worry as much!" The green clad nin fell into his nice guy pose, and Hinata giggled when his teeth glittered. "Mark my words, Gai sensei, I won't slack during this mission! I will continue to train, and once I return I will show you the fruits of my efforts!"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto started away from the cave. "Yeah, yeah... C'mon, Lee, I think I remember seeing a place somewhere not too far from here where we can train. See you guys later!"

Lee followed after the blonde, but not before he smiled tenderly at Sakura. "See you later, Sakura-chan!" He said, talking only so that she could hear. He turned and hurried after Naruto, leaving a flushed Sakura in his wake.

"Ah, I'll never understand how those two can keep going after all that walking," Kiba groaned, rolling his neck. He glanced over his large dog at Hinata. "Hey Hinata, Naruto brought some ramen from home, ne?"

Smiling softly at the thought of the blonde, Hinata nodded. "Half of his bag is full with plenty of that cup ramen that he got from Ichiraku-san. Why, Kiba-kun?"

"Great!" Kiba exclaimed, grinning broadly. He stood up and gestured towards outside. "C'mon, Shino. You can come help me get some firewood. Hinata, could you fish around in Naruto's bag for a few cups of ramen? We'll have some of that for supper." Kiba's eyes twinkled with mischievous humor, and Sakura could tell he was up to something.

Hinata's eyes widened in horror as she looked up at her teammate. "Huh? B-but I can't look through Naruto-kun's stuff!" A light blush had colored her cheeks, and Sakura smiled. She now understood what Kiba was trying for, and she had every intention of helping him, even if it meant embarassing both Hinata and Naruto in the process. That was half the fun!

Hinata turned her gaze upon her pink haired friend, and Sakura saw the question in the girl's eyes. "Go ahead, Hinata," She urged, smiling wider in spite of herself. "Naruto won't mind. I think I saw a stream not too far from here, and I brought a kettle from home, just in case." She stood and walked into the cave, returning a moment later with a small grey tea kettle. "I'll just fill this up with water, and then when we get back we'll make some ramen, okay?" Before she followed Kiba and Shino out of the cave, she kneeled over beside Hinata and whispered, "Go for it, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata watched the three walk away, still concerned about what they were asking her to do. The dark haired kunoichi sat at the mouth of the cave, contemplating whether or not she should just go get the ramen or go looking for Naruto and ask him to come get the food. She was torn, not wanting to anger her love but hesitant to disappoint her peers by not getting the ramen for them. _Naruto-kun might be angry with me if I go through his stuff. Then again, it's not like I'm actually _looking _through his belongings. I'm just going to be looking for the food, ne? He shouldn't get angry at me for that. Still..._

Finally, she decided to look through Naruto's pack for the food, telling herself that he wouldn't get mad if she was only looking for the ramen. Repeating those words in her mind, she made her way into the cave until she found their bags. Pulling Naruto's green pack away from the others, she unzipped it slowly, biting her lip. She unfolded the flap and sighed in dissapointment-- all she saw was clothes. _The ramen must be at the bottom of the bag, _she thought. Hesitantly, she reached into the bag and began to sort through the contents, heat flushing her cheeks and blood pounding her eardrums into mush. She was embarassed to admit that she was actually-- _sort of, kind of_-- interested in what she'd find in her love's bag. Her hand felt something cold, and for a second she thought she'd found the ramen. She pulled the object out of the bag and was surprised to find that it wasn't the cup ramen, but the ointment she'd given him during the Chunin exams a few years ago. _He's still got my ointment, _she thought, and a hint of joy flared through her veins. Sitting the brown bottle aside, she continued to pick through the clothes, a little calmer than before. _Naruto-kun wouldn't bring anything on this mission that he wouldn't want us to see, would he?_

After a few more seconds of searching, her hand felt another object, and she knew the texture. "It's the cup ramen!" She whispered happily, relieved that she could stop searching through Naruto-kun's things now. Her hand closed around the object and she brought it up out of the bag. As soon as she lifted it up to her eyes, her heart stopped and she let out a short gasp.

In her hand she held one of the Styrofoam cups of ramen that Naruto had packed, but that wasn't what had captured her attention. Hanging off of the cup-- _and my hand, MY HAND_-- was a pair of white boxers displaying a smiling chibi frog on them. The frog had red horns and a pointed tail, and beside it in cursive red letters were the words "Hot Stuff."

Hinata screamed and fell backwards, tossing the boxers and the Styrofoam cup away into the darkness of the cave.

≈

I filled the tin kettle up with the cold river water, my mind racing. I felt kind of guilty for making Hinata go through Naruto's stuff like that, but maybe it would do the girl some good. Maybe Naruto kept some sort of photo or something in his pack that reminded him of Hinata, and maybe, if Hinata found it, she would get an idea of how Naruto really felt about her. Being one of the closest people to Naruto, I knew how he felt about most of our peers, and I knew that he really liked Hinata, though his stubborn male mind couldn't process what that meant. Maybe our little scheme would somehow bring the two closer, and maybe we could even get Hinata to confess! I tried to keep myself busy with that thought, but my own stubborn mind continued to trail off to thoughts of a certain green clad boy.

_Lee smiled tenderly at Saukra, surprising her with what was in his eyes. "See you later, Sakura-chan!" He murmured those words to her so that no one else would hear, but he didn't do so because he was embarassed by them. No no, he lowered his voice because they were special, gentle words only she should hear. The look in his eyes told her so. He turned and followed Naruto away from the cave, and part of Sakura was almost devastated to see him go._

I shook myself into the present, reminding myself that I had to get back and check on Hinata. Thoughts like the ones that were running through my mind were better left for later, I chided, standing upright. I turned to go back to the cave when something slid down my cheek. I froze, reaching up to feel my cheek with my right hand. What I felt shocked me to no end.

_A tear, _I thought, lowering my hand slowly. But what was I crying for? I frowned up at the cerulean sky, looking for an answer to my latest question that no one could answer. I wasn't expecting an answer.

"Hey, Sakura," The boy said offhandedly, regarding me with his usual disinterested look. His dark locks waved gently in the wind, and the pale robe he wore contrasted greatly against his surprisingly dark skin, his revealed muscled chest. He raised a razor sharp eyebrow at me, the ends of his mouth twitching into a semi smile. "What? Surprised to see me?"

I gasped, doubling over. It felt like I'd gotten punched in the stomach, driving all of the wind out of my lungs. In a sheer force of will I was able to remain standing, and I gulped the clean air, watching helplessly as the contents of my fallen tin kettle drained out onto the ground. I remained in this condition for well over five minutes, and I was still trembling visibly when I managed to stand up straight.

Glancing around, there was no sign of him. Taking deep breaths, I tried to keep my mind from puzzling over what I'd just witnessed. Trying to think up excuses, I kneeled over and grabbed the kettle, turning back towards the river and refilling it. I focused my entire being on the rushing blue water, determined not to think about what had just happened. That couldn't have been real. It was just an illusion, a mirage, my memories working hell on my eyes. It couldn't have been him. I hadn't seen him in almost three years, why would I just see him all of a sudden again? On the way back to the cave I convinced myself that someone around me had just paid me a nasty joke, had cast some sort of Genjutsu on me. Yeah. That's what it was. A Genjutsu.

I found Hinata sitting on the floor beside the backpacks, several containers of Styrofoam ramen in her lap. "Hey, Hinata-chan!" I said, forcing my usual perkiness into my voice, determined not to allow anyone else to know about what I'd just gone through.

Fortunately, Hinata's mind seemed to be preoccupied by other matters. She looked up at me, face aflame, and smiled as best she could. "H-hi, Sakura-chan!" She squeaked, voice unaturally high. I realized that she was trying to hide something too.

Pretending that I didn't notice, I sat down beside her and shook the tin kettle, smiling at her. "I got the water, Hinata. Looks like you did alright with the ramen, too."

Hinata's blush deepened and she bowed her head. All she could do in response was nod. My smile widened.

At that moment, Kiba and Shino walked into the cave, each toting an armful of logs. They dumped them into the middle of the cave, positioning them in a teepee-like shape. "Did Hinata get the ramen?" Kiba asked, looking at me with an eyebrow raised. I nodded at him, and he grinned. "All right! I think I saw Lee and Naruto coming back towards the cave, so they'll be back in time for supper. Okay, let's get cookin'!"

After Shino lit the campfire, Kiba and I opened some of the styrofoam cups and poured a little of the river water in each cup, sitting them close to the orange and blue fire so that they would cook. Afterwards we talked little, until Naruto and Lee walked into the cave. The mere sight of the blonde boy caused Hinata's face to light up, and I was suddenly reminded of the old days, when Hinata would blush everytime Naruto's name was mentioned. The memory caused a smile to light my face, and I almost forgot about what had happened earlier. Almost.

Unaware of the girl's embarassed state as he usually was, Naruto plopped down beside Hinata and smiled as he caught sight of the styrofoam cups. "Ahh, ramen! Someone figured out I was the one packing all the food, I see." Putting on a mock look of surprise, Naruto turned to the shy girl and began to poke her shoulder innocently. "Was it you, Hinata-chan? Did you find anything... _interesting _while you searched?"

Hinata's eyes widened, and she began to visibly shake. "I-I-I- n-no, N-Naruto-k-kun! I-I d-didn't see a-anything! Honest!" I didn't think I'd ever seen Hinata's face as red as it was while she answered. She drew her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, and I could see the tears already glistening on her eyelashes.

Surprised that his question affected Hinata so badly, Naruto scooted closer to the girl, probably something that just made her more uncomfortable. "I believe you, Hinata-chan!"

She looked up at him, and her bottom lip trembled as she asked, "You d-do?"

Naruto smiled his trademark grin, the one where his grin is so wide that his eyes close. "You bet! Don't worry about it-- I'm not upset or anything, okay?"

"O-okay," The girl answered, lowering her head onto her knees once more. As I watched her struggle to control her breathing, I found myself wondering what she'd found in Naruto's bag. It was either something that made her really happy or really sad, and I wanted to know which one it was.

"Hey, the ramen's ready," Shino said, picking up one of the cups. Handing it to Kiba, he said, "I think Hinata ought to have the first cup, since she was the one who retrieved the food, ne?" I could just barely see the ends of his mouth above his black turtleneck shirt, and I knew he was grinning broadly. The mere thought was enough to make me smile even wider.

Kiba handed the cup to Naruto, who in turn handed it to Hinata, face sour. _"Lucky," _He grumbled, pouting as he gave up the steaming cup of ramen. Hinata smiled softly as she took the food, breathing deep at the smell.

_Hmm... I didn't think I was really all that hungry... Maybe going through Naruto-kun's things was enough to work off breakfast._

We passed the remaining cups around, and we ate in silence, relishing the warm taste of the ramen we all knew and loved-- especially Naruto, who was more than upset when he realized that he only got three cups. "What kind of supper is _this? _You expect me to get full on three cups?" After his complaint, Hinata tried to offer the remains of her second and last cup to him, and, feeling guilty, he refused. "Nah, that's okay, Hinata-chan, I'm really not hungry anymore..."

After we all finished, we sat in silence until Lee noticed that there were two more cups of ramen left beside the fire. "Hey, whose are those?" He asked, pointing.

Naruto's eyes were starry as he asked, "Mine?"

"No," I said, picking up the remaining styrofoam cups, which had gotten quite warm due to their prelonged stay beside the flames. "These are Kakashi sensei's." Standing, I turned my head left and right, looking for the silver headed man I knew so well. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

The others were silent, probably because we'd all but forgotten about Kakashi sensei during supper. After a few moments, someone spoke up, but the voice was not that of any of my peers. "Here, Sakura," Kakashi said, walking out of the deeper shadows of the cave, those that the fire's light did not reach. In one hand he held the all-too-familiar orange book that had captured his attention far too long than was healthy for him. In the other hand, he carried a stick. Hanging off the end of the stick was an unfamiliar piece of clothing, white in color. "I feel somewhat odd asking you kids this, but does this article of clothing belong to any of you? It just happened to fall onto my chest while I was napping, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out where it came from."

Most of us had confused or disinterested looks on our faces, but one look at the couple beside me and I had all the information I needed. Hinata's face was buried in her knees, and Naruto looked like he'd just been stricken with a horrible fever. His visage was identical to that of a deer's caught in the crosshairs, and sweat was visibly popping up all over his forehead. I bit my toungue and covered my mouth in resistance to the giggle that fought to escape, and I wasn't the only one. Kiba had buried his face in the fur on Akamaru's back, and even Shino was having a hard time keeping silent, having bowed his head away from the fire so that his countanance was not visible. Only Lee seemed to be unaffected, watching the entire scene as if someone was explaining to him how to do a certain something. His visage was blank, and his wide eyes flicked back and forth from Naruto and Hinata to Kakashi and the white cloth, which I and the others had identified as a pair of boxers. Something that resembled a frog was shown on the boxers, and I could just make out the words "Hot Stuff" beside it. Upon noticing this, I couldn't resist, and I snorted into my hand. Kiba exploded with laughter, rolling on the floor of the cave. Shino was just barely able to keep it together, and the only way I could tell he was laughing was by the way his shoulders shook.

Lee, on the other hand, was merely staring around at all of us, and I was struck with a sense if _deja-vu _at his expression. It was a look that screamed _I don't understand, _and it was one that I had gotten used to seeing only on Naruto. I had enough time to realize that Lee and my teammate had a lot in common before I was overcome by laughter once again.

Keeping his head down, Naruto stood and snatched the boxers off of the stick Kakashi was carrying, stomping out of the cave. When she heard Naruto leave, Hinata burst into tears, and that sobered the rest of us up. Kiba and I were instantly at her side, trying to comfort her. Shino was back to staring at the fire, any trace of humor gone with the sound of Hinata's sniffles. Kakashi remained standing as he was, probably lost in the pages of his 'romance novel', and Lee was still staring around at us.

Finally, Kakashi walked around us and sat down on the other side of me, beside Lee. "Now, did I hear something about food that is mine?" Lee pointed at the forgotten cups of ramen beside me, and Kakashi picked them up and opened them hungrily. He began to scarf down the food, seemingly unaware of anyone or anything around him.

Under Kiba's and my own calming hands, Hinata was slowly brought under control, and soon she was sitting beside the fire, docile once more. She leaned against my shoulder, exhausted by both the day's events and by the sobs that had racked her body. Smiling once more at the small, sad girl by my side, I turned to Kakashi. "Sensei... I know this might be a bad time to ask, but could you tell us at least a little bit about the UBNA? I mean, we're being tailed by a group that we don't know anything about. Isn't that kind of infantile?"

At my question, the Jonin lowered his second styrofoam cup, having finished off the contents in a hurry. He set the empty containers aside, staring into the fire, apparently contemplating the consequences of explaining to his students. Finally, he said, "I suppose I could answer a few of your questions. After all, it's really my own fault that they're following us in the first place."

We were silent, waiting for him to continue. Looking around at us all, he sighed deeply and began...

≈

_(A/N: I know it's kind of informal to put author's notes in the midst of a chapter like this, but the next couple of sections get a little confusing. I'm gonna put a little key here just to make it a bit less taxing:_

_Italicized words: Naruto's thoughts_

_"Italicized words in quotation marks": Kakashi & the other shinobi's words_

_**Italicized/Bold words: Kyuubi's words**_

_Hope that helps, on with the story!!)_

≈

Naruto walked. It was all he could do to walk. He knew it was kind of dangerous to be out here in unfamiliar parts alone, especially since the UBNA was sneaking around. He couldn't help it, though-- many unidentified emotions were churning inside of him, and he just needed to get away. He tripped on many a rock, but didn't slow his pace. The darkness around him was only broken by the light of the crescent moon above him, and he used that light to guide him along the path that he and his peers had earlier, staring at the ground the entire way. He finally stopped beside a large rock on the side of the road, climbing atop it and staring out at the rocky grounds before him, opting to sit in silence rather than siphoning through his thoughts.

After sitting on the rock for about half an hour, he realized that something was clenched in his left hand. Opening it up, he realized that he had been carrying his frog boxers around that entire time, and he chuckled darkly. _Hmm, maybe I should've left these at home..._

Looking at those boxers got him to unwillingly think about the events in the cave. "Why was Hinata so embarassed? They're my boxers, not hers. She had no reason to be embarassed, she should have been laughing at me, like the others..." Frowning up at the sky, he continued. "Then again, Hinata-chan was never one to laugh at another's misfortune. So why was she so embarassed? Hmm..."

≈

"I suspect you all know that I was once an officer of the Konoha ANBU," Kakashi began, staring into the fire. He tried to ignore the stares he was getting from the others, but it was a difficult feat indeed. Even the dog seemed to be interested in the words that were coming out of his mouth, having raised his head to look at him curiously.

Feeling the warmth of the flames but shivering nonetheless, he continued. "Once, I was sent on an assassination mission into the Land of Rain. I was sent to kill a ninja that had apparently been terrorizing the Amegakure for quite some time. The village's ninja forces were depleted at the time, so they couldn't deal with a single rouge nin on their own, so they inlisted Konoha's help."

"Amegakure... The Village Hidden in Rain?" Shino asked, frowning into the fire.

Kakashi nodded. "So, I made my way over to the Land of Rain. On my way there, I met a few of the UBNA officers. They claimed to be a sister organization of the ANBU, serving the Hidden Villages and patrolling the distances in between each village, keeping the areas safe. They claimed to be a mere security force, only existing to protect the weak, and I have to say, I believed them. I let them go on their way, having an important mission to take care of myself, and they didn't cross my mind again. I reached the Village Hidden in Rain, and there I met a man by the name of Shinji Nomura. He was a Jonin, and one of the most respected ninja in his village. We became fast friends, and the two of us began to hunt down the rouge nin together."

≈

Naruto sighed, having gotten nowhere in the mystery that was Hyuga Hinata. He still couldn't puzzle out why Hinata had been so damn embarassed at the sight of his boxers. Maybe she was just too timid to see anyone else's undergarments.

_**Well... That sucks for you, doesn't it, kid?**_

"Wha... KYUUBI!!" Naruto cried, almost falling off of the rock he was perched on as he realized what the fox demon was talking about. Once again, his face lit up, and he clenched his fists as he fought the embarassment. Closing his eyes, he sunk down into his consciousness, where he found himself face to face with the huge kitsune.

He made a face. "Hey, fox, shut the hell up! You know I don't think about Hinata like that!"

The demon gave Naruto his sweetest grin. _**I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you, kid. You should remember that I am a demon of your conscience, therefore I can hear all of your most personal thoughts.**_

That left Naruto sputtering. "Wha-? But you can't-- I don' t think..." The blonde pursed his lips and turned on the ball of his heel, folding his arms and reminding the kitsune of a pouting child. "Whatever, fox. You can be as big of a pervert as you want, but that doesn't mean I have to be." He rose up out of the sewers of his consciousness, ignoring the low snickering chasing him out.

Naruto opened his eyes, sighing. When he'd walked all the way out here earlier, he hadn't realized how tired he was. Now, though, he felt like he could fall asleep right there on the rock. He shook himself, determined to keep himself awake until he got back to the cave. He turned back towards the path and slid down off of the rock, and was about to start back towards the cave when something caught his attention.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small bush growing in between a couple of rocks. In an instant he recognized them as the flowers that Hinata had been so gaga over, the ones Kakashi had called 'lilacs.' Smiling serenely, Naruto bent over and picked a couple of the pale lavender blooms. He stood upright and began to walk back towards the cave, but was once again halted, this time by a voice.

"N-Naruto-k-kun?"

_I know that voice... _"Hinata-chan?" He called, glancing left and right for his shy friend. He saw nothing, and right before he was about to decide that he was just hearing things, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and found himself looking down into the smiling face of Hinata. "Hey, Hinata-chan! What are you doing out here? And... Why are you dressed like that?"

Hinata was not wearing her usual lavender jacket or black capris. Instead she wore a long dark purple poncho that reached all the way to her knees. On her feet she had on black combat boots, and over her left shoulder she carried a closed plum colored umbrella.

The girl grinned so broadly that her eyes closed, cocking her head to the side. "You c-can never t-tell when it m-might r-rain, Naruto-kun!"

Frowning at her odd behavior, Naruto glanced at the sky. Sure, it was a slightly cloudy evening, but there was no indication that rain was expected. The night was calm, a cool breeze soothing the inhabitants of the night. Rain was the last thing Naruto expected on a night like this.

Shrugging off Hinata's behavior, Naruto smiled down at her. "Well, okay then. Hinata-chan, I think we should be getting back to the cave now. The others might be getting worrimm--" Naruto was halted mid word when Hinata suddenly pressed her lips to his, slipping her free hand up behind his head and into his hair, deepening the kiss.

Fireworks went off in Naruto's mind. Questions of every shape and size were shooting themselves at his conscience, and he was almost overwhelmed with them. At first his eyes had grown to well over dinner plate-size, but then he'd relaxed into the kiss, letting his eyes slide shut. The unanswered questions flying around in his mind were left that way as he shut his mind down, simply enjoying the moment in full. He fell into an almost trancelike state, suddenly finding himself very drowsy.

Hinata suddenly released the blonde's lips, backing away from him. Letting her right hand fall to her side once again, she smiled almost impishly up at him. "A-are you a-alright, Na-Naruto-ku-kun?"

Suddenly warning bells went off in his mind. Somewhere, somehow, he made a connection that he wouldn't have been able to if she hadn't kissed him. The magical feeling of the moment died away as he became aware of a single, simple fact.

_Hinata-chan doesn't stutter that much anymore... She hasn't for a long time now._

Opening his eyes wide, he gasped. "You're not Hinata-chan, are you?"

The girl smirked, and Naruto suddenly found himself repulsed by her. "I can already tell you're the bright one of the bunch," She said, and this time her voice was deeper than Hinata's was, almost husky-sounding. The girl jumped backwards a few feet and pointed at him with her umbrella. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are now being taken hostage by a squad of the UBNA. Please do not attempt to resist." She opened the umbrella, and suddenly there was half a dozen shuriken soaring at Naruto all at once.

Naruto launched himself into the air, dodging the shuriken. He simultaneously sent a shower of his own weapons down at the girl, who dodged them, jumping off to the side of the road behind a rock.

_"The UBNA specialize in water based jutsu, as the few nin of the Amegakure do. They can use it to protect themselves, but they can also use it offensively, too. Being nin from this particular village, they also have excellent Genjutsu skills, and most of them use umbrellas as weapons."_

_"Kakashi sensei, how would they use an umbrella as a weapon?"_

_"Their umbrellas are strengthened, and they contain small pockets on the inside where they can store shuriken. Open their umbrella, and you find yourself faced with several flying weapons to dodge."  
_

_**C'mon, kid, what are you doing? **_Kyuubi growled, his anger rising as Naruto howled in pain.

"They-- they attack too fast!" Naruto grunted, dodging another bout of the water missiles and diving behind a rock for cover. "I... I don't know if I'm gonna be able to take them on my own..."

_**Well, you don't have to. Just let me take over for a bit, and they'll be taken care of.**_

Naruto looked down at his clenched fist and was somewhat surprised to see the lavender flowers still intact. Shaking his head, he smiled softly down at the flowers. "Ah, Kyuubi, don't you know when to give up?"

_**Hey, can't blame a guy for trying...**_

Confidence in himself intact once again, he transferred the flowers from his fist to his mouth and pocketed the two kunai he held. Biting softly on the stems of the lilacs, he formed the seal for his trademark jutsu. Twelve shadow clones appeared around him, and he grinned ferally at them all. "Each of you get one of them. Leave the leader to me, 'kay?" He ordered, speaking through clenched teeth. They nodded dutifully at him and jumped back around the rock. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself back into the fray and was immediately met by the girl, who unceremoniously whacked him hard with her umbrella. He was sent flying over rocks and ground, finally coming to rest on a large stone.

The girl landed on a rock before him, smiling broadly over at him. "I'm guessing you didn't hear or understand my warning from before, ne?"

"Naruto frowned over at her. Her appearance had changed drastically. She no longer resembed Hinata, now boasting curly silver locks in place of Hinata's board straight dark hair. Over her eyes she wore a pair of huge silver goggles that glinted in the moonlight, and she still wore the plum colored poncho and combat boots. "Nah, I heard it. I didn't quite understand it, though. I'm a little confused as to why you'd want to take me hostage, seeing as how I've never done anything to your oganization that would justify attacking me. Do you have an answer to that, miss?"

"Actually, I do," The girl replied, grinning even wider at him. She now resembled a Cheshire cat, her wide smile almost reflecting the moonlight as her goggles did. "For one, you and your friends killed some of our members yesterday. While that is somewhat important, the real reason I want you as my hostage would be for the simple reason that you are traveling with a Hatake Kakashi, are you not?"

"Who wants to know?" Naruto shot back, glaring over at the girl.

She chuckled darkly. "Oh, innocent fool. You would like to know what my name is?"

≈

"Tatsuki Nomura," Kakashi stated glumly, pressing a palm to his one visible eye. He was tired, and the looks he was getting from his students were not helping any. They were curious to hear more, and as much as he thought they needed to know everything they should about the UBNA, he really wouldn't mind falling aslleep right here, right now beside this nice, warm, toasty fire.

"Wait... You said Nomura was the surname of your friend in the Village Hidden in Rain, right?" Kiba asked, realization dawning on his visage. The look was spreading to his peers as well.

"Hai," Kakashi replied.

"They're siblings," Shino stated flatly, staring into the fire.

"Bingo."

"The well respected Jonin of a village and the terrorizer of the very same place, brother and sister," Shino remarked darkly, shaking his head. "That's just perfect."

"But... If Tatsuki is Shinji's sister, then why would he try to assassinate her with you?" Hinata asked, staring over at the silver headed Jonin with something near horror. The thought of a brother so willingly killing his sister like that was not something Hyuga Hinata was willing to accept so quickly.

Kakashi smiled then, and everyone who noticed his small upturned lips were chilled instantly, no matter how warm they had been before.

"Tatsuki killed the entire Nomura clan. Shinji is bent on revenge against her, being the only one who escaped."

≈

They were gone. I'd finally fought 'em off. Stumbling closer to the cave, I heard shouts of recognition that told me that I had been sighted, and I felt relief as all the remaining strength went out of my legs. Falling to my knees, I reached up and took the lilacs out of my mouth just to make sure they were still intact. They were, and I fell face first, still gripping the flowers in my fist.

I heard footfalls echoing in the ground, and I felt a hand on my head, in my hair: "Naruto-kun! W-what happened to you?!"

I tried to answer her, to tell her I was alright, I'd fought the enemy off, but for some reason I couldn't find my voice. Instead I lifted my fist with the flowers in them, just so she'd see what I brought for her. Seeing the lilacs in my hand, she burst into tears. "Kakashi sensei, come quick! Naruto-k-kun's h-hurt!"

Her sweet voice was the last thing I heard before I sank into the darkness biting at the edges of my eyes, soothed by her closeness.

≈

So sorry it took an extra week to get this chapter out, everyone, but as you can see I did a lot of writing on this one. Hope you all like it, will update very soon! See ya!


	6. Chapter 6

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Hi there, my dear fans! How was the last chapter? Sorry about the cupcakes, I guess I'm not a very good cook… But we're in luck! My grandma is! Hands every reviewer a freshly baked snickerdoodle Believe me, those are much better than anything I could produce.

As for what happened in the last chapter with the battle between Tatsuki and Naruto: I did have a pretty cool fight scene planned out, but I thought I'd made you guys wait too long for number 5 without spending a couple more days trying to write a fight scene, so I cut it short. I apologize, and if I get some time later on I might revise the ending to that chapter so that the fight scene is described, okay? Alrighty then, on to the story!

≈

"Well, this is going to set us back a few hours, maybe even a few days."

"W-what do you mean, Kakashi sensei?"

"If he doesn't wake up soon, we're gonna have to stay here and watch over him. There will be no moving him in his current state, which brings me to our other problem. After he wakes, he'll probably need some time to regain his strength, and we don't exactly have the time to wait around on him to recover."

"… Is it the UBNA, sensei?"

"Hai, Sakura. Apparently they thought they could get to me by capturing one of you…"

Naruto listened in on the conversation, not really aware of what he was hearing. His muscles felt sore, and there were places on his shoulder, forearm and leg that ached really badly, as if he'd gotten cut by something. Trying to figure out how he'd gotten injured opened up his memory, and he remembered what had happened: the incident after dinner with his boxers, the walk out in the dark, fighting that one girl, Tatsuki…

Opening his mouth, he attempted to speak and was surprised and alarmed to hear his voice cracking and weak: "Hi-Hinata…"

A light pressure was immediately put on his shoulder, and he knew exactly what it was-- a hand, _her _hand. "Naruto-kun! Are you a-awake?"

There was a slight scuffling sound, and he could now hear more voices, a faint conversation: "Naruto's awake, you guys…"

"What? Finally, I thought Ramen Boy would never wake up! Even now, he's as lazy as ever…"

"Yosh! I just knew Naruto-kun would come out of it soon! The Flames of Youth have not failed him at all!"

A sigh. Then: "Oh, Lee…"

Naruto opened his eyes slowly to the world around him. The first thing he saw was the dark rock ceiling above him. The next thing he saw was Hinata's pale face, concern written all over her features, leaning over him. Her nose was red, and her eyes were puffy. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

"What… is… wrong… Hinata-chan?" He managed to say, struggling to speak. It was almost like he was trying to talk through a rock in his throat, an obstacle that seemed to be tearing away his vocal cords as he struggled to bypass it.

Blinking her watery eyes at him, she struggled to stop crying long enough to explain herself to him. "You got attacked last night, Naruto-kun. By members of the UBNA. I don't know how you did it, but you defeated all five of them, and then you were able to make it back here. I was so worried…"

Looking up at her, he noticed something. She had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and behind her left ear she wore a couple of light lavender flowers… The lilacs he'd picked for her. Seeing her wearing his flowers made him smile softly. Even with her face all puffy like it was, she was still as pretty as she'd always been. He put a shaky hand up on her left cheek, trying to comfort her. Her downcast eyes suddenly opened wide at his touch, and he could clearly see the tears glittering away in those light lavender pools.

Using his thumb, he touched one of the lavender petals tucked behind her ear. "You didn't have to worry so much about me, Hinata-chan…. I told you I would protect you from your family, and I can't do that unless I'm by your side, right? So I didn't have a choice: I had to get better." Suddenly his arm got heavy, and he was unable to keep it up any longer; it fell back down to his side, where Hinata sat.

Blushing at his words, Hinata smiled and put a hand over the one that had fallen, squeezing lightly. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

At that moment, their peers entered the cave, quietly shuffling over to where he lay. "Hey, Naruto," Kiba murmured, crouching down on the other side of the blonde boy, smiling softly. "You know, you didn't have to go and get yourself beaten up just because we laughed at your boxers. Really, man, we were just joking."

Naruto smiled and nodded at him, unable to speak for the stone in his throat.

Kakashi followed the teens into the cave and kneeled down beside Hinata, his one visible eye scanning the boy. "Well, Naruto, how are you feeling?"

Naruto frowned as if he was unsure of the answer. He tried to sit up, but his exhausted muscles gave out on him, and he fell back, sighing.

Kakashi nodded, as if that was what he'd expected to happen. "Ah. Well, I guess we're gonna be here for another night. Sakura, give your teammate some more of that medicine you cooked up, he'll probably need it. Hinata, could you scan the surrounding areas with your Byakugan a few times today? I don't want the UBNA getting too close to the camp while we're stuck here. Hopefully, you'll regain your strength during the night, Naruto. Until then, you just need to rest, ne?" After Naruto nodded, Kakashi stood and walked towards the entrance of the cave. "I'm going to go get the firewood we'll need tonight. I don't want any of you to leave the cave today, alright?"

As soon as Kakashi left, Naruto closed his eyes and sunk into the depths of his conscience, and soon found himself looking at the oh so familiar thick bars of his inner demon's cell. He walked up to the bars and grasped them, shouting "Oi, fox!" into the darkness within.

_**Argh, what do you want, loudmouth? **_The demon muttered back, walking into view. His red eyes glowed with exhaustion as he stared at the orange clad boy before him.

"Why is my body so weak? I thought you were supposed to take care of my injuries," Naruto said, glaring back into the fox's crimson eyes. As far as he could remember, he'd never seen the demon so exhausted before.

_**You took a real beating last night, kid, **_Kyuubi replied, sitting on his haunches and sighing deeply. _**Before, all I had to fix was minor injuries-- a couple bruises, depleted chakra storage, stuff like that. Last night, though, I had one hell of a mess to clean up. It was like this after your last battle with the dark haired Uchiha boy, too.**_

Naruto was silent at the mention of Sasuke's name. Hai, then he'd been in poor shape, too, but it had been almost five times worse. Now he wasn't anywhere close to dying, only weak. He sighed as if a weight had settled down on his shoulders, and asked, "Alright, but how long will it be before I can walk again?"

_**Like the silver haired Jonin said… You'll be better by tomorrow, don't worry. Just relax, kid, and you'll be better in no time, ne?**_

"Whatever," Naruto replied wearily. He laid down on the cold cement floor, all of a sudden very tired. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep state of unconsciousness, and as he watched Naruto fall asleep Kyuubi chuckled.

_**Ahh, kid… You sure have a long way to go yet. I hope you don't get yourself into trouble, fighting and injuring yourself like this… **_

Shaking his head, the demon started working on Naruto's injuries, a soft smile on his face.

≈

"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried, worried when Naruto's breathing slowed drastically, clutching at his hand like a lifeline. She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Shino standing behind her.

"Do not worry, Hinata. He has to sleep to get his strength back. Maybe, if he sleeps long enough, he'll regain his strength quicker, and then we can leave sooner. Okay?"

Smiling at him, she nodded. "Thank you, Shino-kun."

The rest of the day wore on, and still Naruto did not wake. Hinata was just about to get really worried when, around six 'o clock, the blonde opened his eyes and smiled up at her. "Hey, Hinata-chan. You're not worrying about me again, are you?"

After Kakashi returned, the shinobi cooked ramen again, and Naruto was feeling strong enough to sit up and feed himself. Kakashi smiled at this development, stating to everyone else's confusion "He must be working overtime in there, hmm, Naruto?"

Naruto bit his lip, but smiled and nodded anyway. He knew what Kakashi was trying to do, and he didn't like it.

_He's trying to get me to tell everyone else about you, Kyuubi. He thinks they ought to know._

… _**Don't you think the others have a right to know the real reason the Hokage had for sending you on this mission? They are your friends, after all.**_

_Since when did you concern yourself with such trivial matters as my personal life, Kyuubi? _Naruto asked a little hotly. After all, the demon had no right to lecture him on _anything, _much less his personal life.

The fox huffed. _**Whatever, kid. If you want to continue being dense, it's no skin off my back. **_He didn't talk to Naruto once more that night, and the blonde had to admit, he did get a little lonely without the demon to talk to.

Later that night, Naruto awoke to see Hinata curled up beside him, flowers laid out on the ground before her. He smiled widely and whispered into the silent cave, "Good night, Hinata-chan."

≈

A fist hit the tree, followed by a palm and then another. The dark brown bark began slowly flaking off as the chakra was continuously applied to it, over and over again.

"Damn you, father."

The force with which the tree was being battered with increased, and slowly the bark began to peel off faster, the chakra acting as sharp blades that bit into the tree's skin. Gentle fist technique or not, the traditional Hyuga technique could be very destructive when applied just so. She was going to show him that, among other things.

"Why… I never wanted to be heir…"

She hadn't. Oh, sure, she'd take the position with the grace that was expected of her, and she was sure she'd do a wonderful job being her father's successor, but that didn't mean she'd enjoy doing so. She had always been assured that the position would go to her elder sister, and she'd be spared. She would be able to live a normal life, choose her own path. Hell, she hadn't needed to become a ninja before, it had always been something she'd wanted to do. Being the heiress, though… She'd be expected to be able to defend herself well, she'd be expected to become another genius of their clan, like her cousin. She could always pass the position off to Neji, but then her father would look at her with the same expression he used to look upon Hinata with. If there was one thing Hanabi feared, it was being rejected as both a daughter and a member of the Hyuga clan by her father like her sister had.

The blows to the tree slowly lessened, and finally stopped. Hanabi leaned against the destroyed surface of the tree with one hand, breathing heavily.

She began thinking of the day when she had received the note. An unnamed member of the branch family had given her the note while they'd passed in the halls of the Hyuga estate, claiming it had been from her father. She'd opened the note then, alarmed instantly. Hiashi had never sent her a note like this before, had either sent for her or talked to her over a meal, so she knew that this was important. She'd nearly cried when she read the words on the paper that claimed that she would be named the Heiress by default. Her sister hadn't been strong enough for Hiashi, and he'd finally gotten tired of her. Hanabi couldn't believe it.

Why had her father never accepted Hinata as his daughter the way she was? He had always expected more of her than he did anyone else. Then again, Hinata had never wanted to be a ninja, but was forced to because she was the heiress. Yet when she had become a kunoichi, she was never good enough. No matter how much she trained, Hiashi had never accepted her. No matter what she did, he still looked down on her with that expression, that expression one would use when looking at a forlorn and ugly animal rather than his daughter.

She glanced up at the dark sky, untouched by the dawn that was destined to come. Somehow, somewhere, she had to convince Hinata to come back. Sure, she and her elder sister had never been visibly close, but there was times when there seemed to be potential to get that way. Maybe Hanabi would be crying and Hinata would comfort her, or Hinata would be training and Hanabi would help her out. In these little moments, before their father would come and lure them apart, sparks seemed to fly and a sisterly love would begin to spark. Hiashi, however, always seemed to see it coming, and doused the flame even before it could light.

"Damn you, father…."

≈

Lee's eyes snapped open, and he was immediately up and moving. He snuck out of the cave, taking care not to disturb any of his peers. Once outside in the darkness before dawn, he glanced around himself. There was an orange lining on the horizon to the east, and he knew that morning was almost upon them. Knowing very well that he was disobeying his sensei's orders, he walked along the path, heading towards the place where he and Naruto had trained yesterday. It was a clearing surrounded by large rocks, bearing a large rock in the center. It had proved a fit training spot for him and his peer, so it should work for just him all the same. When he reached the clearing, though, he discovered that he wasn't alone.

"Sakura-san!" He said, surprised at the sight of the girl. She was sitting cross-legged on the rock in the center of the clearing, staring up at the dark sky.

She started, not expecting anyone else out and about this early. Turning around, she saw him and put a hand over her heart, sighing. "Oh, Lee-kun! I didn't think you'd be awake this early…" An uncomfortable silence threatened, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Gesturing at the rock beside her, she smiled. "Well, did you wanna sit? We're not serving breakfast, but we've got a good view…"

He chuckled and nodded. Jumping up to the rock, he plopped down beside her and said, "… You know Kakashi sensei told us not to leave the cave, right? What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," She replied, smiling mischievously and elbowing him in the ribs.

"I was just going to go through a little training before we set off today," Lee answered, and she could tell he was being truthful-- something in his eyes told her. After a pause, he asked, "So, what did you think you were going to do? Were you going to train, too?"

She giggled, but the humor didn't quite reach her teal eyes. "No, Lee dear, I wasn't going to train. The cave just got so stuffy, and I had to get somewhere comfortable to think. Hai, to think…"

"About what?" Lee asked, urging her to continue.

She stared off towards the horizon, unsure of what she should do. _Should I tell him about what I saw yesterday? _

_No! _her inner self answered for her. _He'll think you're crazy._

She frowned at the sky. _I don't think he will. Lee's kind of like Naruto-- he doesn't judge anyone unless he knows their entire story. I think I'm going to tell him._

"Well, Lee…" She began, finding a lump had formed in her throat. He waited expectantly, an ear turned towards her. If Lee was anything, he was a good listener, he would understand. She nodded, smiling.

"Yesterday, when I went to get the water for the ramen, I… saw something."

"Was it the UBNA?" Lee asked, visage growing concerned as he listened.

She shook her head, closing her eyes. "No… I mean, I don't think so. Kakashi sensei said they were good with Genjutsu, so it might've been an illusion… I don't think so. I don't think it was them."

"… What'd you see?"

Sakura took a deep breath before replying. "…. I saw _him."_

Lee knew immediately who she was talking about. "Did he say anything?"

She frowned at the sky as she spoke. "He said hi… and he asked me if I was surprised to see him. Then, he vanished."

Lee stared down at his hands, in deep thought. "He didn't touch you or anything?'

"No."

"So you have no proof that it was really him or if it was just an illusion." It was a somber statement.

She shook her head, just as melancholy as her friend.

"Sakura-san… What were you thinking about before you saw him?"

_Here it goes… _Her cheeks turned pink as she murmured, "I was thinking about you."

Lee's face involuntarily flushed, and Sakura couldn't help uttering a giggle. "Oh-- well-- that's nice to know."

"Hai, it is," Sakura giggled, snuggling closer to him. A chill had fallen over the early morning atmosphere, and she was out here without a coat.

After a moment of inner turmoil between his heart and his common sense, Lee's heart won out and he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. They both blushed at his actions, but it was a happy kind of blush, and Sakura momentarily forgot about her worries as she yawned, leaning on him for support. "Good morning, Lee-kun."

His heart jumping at her voice, the almost visible silken luster of it, he replied, "Good morning, Sakura-chan."

≈

Later that morning, after they had breakfast and had packed up all of their belongings, they started off once again. Pulling out a map from his pack, Kakashi opened it up and pointed to a spot about an inch away from the border. "See, we're here," He told a very interested Sakura and Shino, who looked over his arms at the scroll. "If we continue on like we are, then we should be there in no time. Maybe by dusk. We'll have to pause at the outside of the rainforest, though, because it could get very dangerous in there after dark."

"Forest?" Lee questioned, and eyebrow raised. He and the other three ninja walked behind Kakashi, Shino and Sakura. "But Kakashi sensei, I thought we would only be seeing rocky ground from now on."

"Only until we get closer to the border, Lee," Kakashi answered, rolling the map back up and tucking it into his pack. "When we get closer, we'll start to hit trees again, and we might get some relief from this cursed heat." As to amplify his statement, he dramatically wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Sensei?" Kiba piped up, also mopping his own brow. "Are we going to hit any villages before we get to this rainforest? 'Cause, well, I'm all for roughing it in the wilderness, but we all know how bad dogs can get to smelling when they haven't had a bath in a few days." He looked down at Akamaru, who glared up at his owner and huffed, as if to say _Well, humans aren't all that great smelling when they're dirty either!_

Kakashi nodded, sending his short silvery hair flopping. "We're pretty close to a village now. We can probably stop there if you all really think we need to." A chorus of "Yes's" and "Hallelujah's" met his statement, and he smiled underneath his mask.

They reached the small village around ten 'o clock, and found a hotel with a couple of bathhouses, one for men and one for women. They paid their way in and hurriedly took off towards their opposite rooms. Kakashi was bonked on the head by both Naruto and Sakura when he tried to follow the girls to the female's baths, and he decided to take a private bath instead of taking one with the four boys.

As Sakura changed into her swimsuit, Hinata paced around outside of the changing room, somewhat nervous. "Ano, Sakura-san…"

"Hai, Hinata-chan?" Sakura replied, opening up the door. She wore a dark blue two piece swimsuit, with small white flowers adorning it. She smiled down at the shorter kunoichi, who hadn't changed out of her usual clothes.

"Ano… I couldn't go home and get my own things, so… Ano… I don't have a swimsuit…"

Sakura frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, Hinata-chan, is that all?" Then she smiled and walked over to her bag. Burrowing in it, she came up with a piece of fabric and tossed it at her friend. "Here, Hinata-chan, you can have this one. Sorry, though, it's only a one piece. I hope you don't mind."

Hinata shook her head, blushing and smiling gratefully. "No, no, not at all! Arigato, Sakura-san!" She walked into the changing room that Sakura had just came out of, thanking the Gods that she had such a good friend as Sakura.

The swimsuit was a pale pink one with darker pink sakura petals patterned all over it. It had a high front and a low back, and it tied behind her neck. As she was changing into it, Hinata couldn't help but wonder what Naruto would say if he saw her in this. At the thought, she nearly stopped changing and took the suit off.

"Hinata-chan? Did you change yet?"

Sakura's voice spurred her onwards, and she slipped the pale pink swimsuit the rest of the way on. _Naruto-kun won't see me in this, don't be silly! He would never peek into the girl's bathhouses, even if Jiraiya-sama would. _Chuckling as she remembered the many humorous stories Naruto had told her about his perverted sensei, she gathered up her clothes and walked out of the changing room, blushing as she was met by Sakura's scanning teal eyes.

The pink haired kunoichi smiled and squealed excitedly as she saw her friend walk out of the changing stall. "It looks great on you, Hinata-chan! Naruto's jaw would definitely drop if he saw you in that!"

Unaware of the look of horror she got from Hinata about that statement, she seized her wrist and dragged her out into the sun, where the girl's bathhouse was at. It was a large beautiful pool, blocked from the outside world by a six foot cement wall. If anyone was trying to peek, they'd have a hell of a hard time doing so, and Hinata relaxed slightly.

Peeking, however, was just what was on both Naruto and Lee's minds as they walked out to their own bath with Kiba and Shino. All were dressed in shorts and were topless with the exception of Shino, who was wearing a pair of black and white shorts with a long white tank top. He also still wore his dark glasses, and his raised eyebrows were visible as they entered the bathhouse.

Naruto launched himself forward, doing a cannonball into the warm pool, a mere blur of orange and yellow to those watching.

Coming up, he gestured to the other three, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, guys! Jump in, the water's great!"

"Can you all not read? The sign says 'No Jumping'," Shino remarked even as Lee and Kiba ran forward, Kiba belly-flopping into the water and Lee doing a dive.

When Kiba's shaggy head came up out of the water, he smirked over at Shino, who still stood in the exact place where he'd stopped. "C'mon, Shino! If they didn't want us to jump in, then they shouldn't have made this thing, like, nine feet! They should have built it like a regular bath!"

"Your logic is very shaky," Shino stated, but jumped in after them all the same. His spiky dark hair, when wetted, hung down to around his chin, and he looked very much like Kiba had before he'd cut his hair.

Laughing at his teammate, Kiba cried, "You look like Akamaru! Haha!" The result was him getting dunked under the water, held under by Shino's strong arm.

Naruto and Lee laughed at this display, but then Naruto interrupted by pointing at the entrance to the bathhouse and screaming "Ahh! Dog!"

As if he'd heard his master talking about him, the huge white dog came bounding out of the hotel lobby, chased by the lady that sat at the desk. Akamaru launched into the pool, sending a tidal wave at the four of them. Laughing, the boys barely heard the lady screeching "Oi! Bad dog! Bad dog!"

"It's okay, lady-san, he's with us," Kiba called, grinning broadly as Akamaru dog paddled over to him.

The woman glared at the dog and boys a moment longer before stalking back into the lobby.

"What a crazy old bag," Naruto muttered, and the others chuckled. Suddenly high-pitched laughter interrupted their own merriment, and Naruto and Lee glanced over to where the voices had come from.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto murmured, recognizing one of the voices at once.

"Hai… And Sakura-san," Lee stated, nodding towards the voices.

"That was really stupid of the owner of this place, putting the bathhouses right next to each other," Kiba scoffed, rolling his eyes at Shino. He knew very well what was on their minds, and he didn't know if he approved. Well, they could look at Sakura all they wanted, but Hinata was kind of like his younger sister. Did Naruto really think he could get away with spying on his sister in the tub while he was in the same country? He hoped his friend wasn't that dense. "Don't even think about peeking, you two," Kiba said, closing his eyes and folding his arms. He didn't see both of his friends attain nosebleeds at the exact same time, nor did he see the green and orange blurs launch up out of the water and into the bathrooms.

Shino sighed, beginning a lap from one side of the pool to another. "It seems as if Jiraiya-sama's perverted nature has spread to Naruto, and from him to Lee."

Kiba laughed, relaxing back in the pool. "Hai, apparently so. Apparently so."

≈

Later on, when they had all bathed and felt one hundred percent better, they set off again, and sure enough they began seeing less rocks and more trees. Slowly but surely they began to trail off into the woods again, and before they got too far Kakashi stopped them.

"Ah, why are we stopping, sensei?" Naruto asked, stamina refueled with the bath. He wasn't ready to stop just yet.

"Like I said, we don't need to go into the rainforest at night alone," Kakashi replied, sitting down in the grass with a sigh. "Also, while you six bathed I contacted Shinji. He should be here sometime soon to guide us through the forest, so we don't get lost."

"Ah, man!" Naruto exclaimed, plopping down onto the ground, a frown creasing his naturally smiling face. "What are we going to do now? It's too early to go to sleep! There's nothing to do out here!"

"Too early to go to sleep? I think not," Kakashi replied, leaning backwards and putting his arms behind his head, sighing deeply. "It's been a while since I was able to take my beauty nap. I say, I could get used to the normal people's lazy way of life."

"Get used to--? YOU _ARE_ LAZY, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN!!" Naruto yelled, launching himself up off of the ground as he saw Kakashi pull out the all too familiar orange book he always used to read. Naruto could tell his sensei was smiling, and that made him even more angry. "You're no better than Jiraiya sensei! Too perverted for your own good, can't even go a day without reading one of those-- hey, wait a minute." Pointing at the orange book, the blonde frowned. "Why are you still reading the first book? I gave you the second book, so why aren't you reading that one? At first, I didn't like it too well, but it sort of grew on me as Ero-Senin forced me to read it."

Kakashi sat up, and with a twinkle in his one visible eye said, "Oh, hai, I wanted to read the one you gave me, but the first one is soooo good! It's my favorite, no matter what Senin-sama comes up with next." He issued a slightly girly squeal before continuing. "Plus, I'm going to wait to read the second book until he comes out with the final one. I think it will be so much better if I read them back to back, that way I'll know what happens quicker."

Naruto shrugged, crossing his arms. "Whatever turns you on, sensei." Turning away from the silver haired perv, he looked back at his peers, smiling widely. "Well, guys, what are we gonna…. Do…. Wait, why are you all staring at me like that for?"

All five of his teammates were staring incredulously at him, eyes wide. Lee, Kiba, and Shino all were sweat dropping, jaws dropped. Hinata's expression was quite the same, except her face was aflame, almost as if she'd come down with a horrible fever. Sakura was standing off to the side of the group, steam positively pouring out of her ears. She looked absolutely miffed.

Kiba was the first to speak, perhaps out of surprise more than courage. "You… You sure know a lot about the 'Icha Icha Paradise' series, Naruto."

Naruto blinked, then blushed and kind of poked his index fingers together. "Ano, um, I don't really, I just, you know… Being the author's apprentice and all, I hear about these things, ne, and--"

"Save it, Naruto," Sakura growled in a low voice, sending her teammate face first into the ground with a single punch. The others continued to sit there, perplexed, until Kiba let out a howl of laughter at the blonde's misfortune. Lee joined in, and Shino sat down, shaking his head. Hinata squealed in horror as she saw the grounded Naruto, and a steaming pink haired teen sat beside Shino, eyes closed and mouth pulled into a grimace.

The rest of their wait consisted of a steaming team 7, a hysteric Kiba and Lee, a calm Kakashi and Shino and a doting Hinata as she administered a healing antidote to the small cuts and bruises on Naruto's face that he sustained when he got punched into the ground. Naruto grumbled, but not once did he complain about Hinata rubbing the clear cream over painful parts of his face. After she finished, he looked up at her and grinned widely. "Thanks, Hinata-chan!"

Suddenly the relaxed Kakashi sat up, and out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw their sensei push his black bandana up to reveal the Sharingan eye. "Hinata," he murmured.

"Hai." Naruto glanced over at the dark haired girl to see her activate her own bloodlimit, scanning the area around them. Sakura was instantly on her feet, a hand on the pocket of her bag that held her kunai and exploding tags. Both Kiba and Akamaru were now sniffing the air, looking for the scent of an enemy. Shino sat as he had only a moment before, except Naruto could see the bugs crawling around on the bare flesh of his face, tense and restless, as their master was. Lee was checking the weights on his limbs, making sure they would come off easily enough would he need an extra boost of speed in the possible battle ahead. Glancing down at himself, Naruto found that he was also on his feet, and his hands were clenched at his sides. Apparently, their reflexes were right in tune with each other.

"Ahead, sensei," Hinata muttered, drawing a kunai from her pocket. Pointing at the forest before her with the knife, she continued. "In the trees. Just one. I don't know who it is, but they're coming straight for us. They're chakra level is high, probably about as high as yours is, sensei."

'I see him, Hinata," Kakashi replied, voice just as low. He stood up calmly and put his book away in his bag, all the while keeping both eyes focused in the direction that Hinata had just pointed out.

The seconds wore on, and soon everyone could hear the person jumping through the trees. He was really close. Then, the sounds just died away. It was like he'd stopped moving. The minutes grew into what seemed like hours, and as Naruto began to think that the guy in the trees had simply moved on--

A body jumped out of the trees, sending green leaves everywhere. As the person and the leaves came down, a single kunai was thrown upwards, eager to pierce the unknown figure's skin. Before it could even get close to the falling person Kakashi caught it between his first two fingers.

"Hinata!" Kakashi said, not turning around to look at her. "You should be a little less eager to attack. If that had been a civilian rather than a ninja, and if I hadn't been quick enough, you might have injured an innocent. Think before you throw, ne?" His voice was just as apathetically pleasant as it always was, and there was no hint of anger in his voice. It almost seemed like they were in the classroom again, and Kakashi was their teacher. He sounded like a doting sensei rather than the nin he was, and Naruto briefly wondered if Kakashi could have ever had a future as a schoolteacher.

"Gomenasai, sensei," Hinata said quietly, bowing her head and poking her fingers together. She knew that it would have been smarter to wait for the other nin to make the first move rather than to go ahead and attack without knowing who it was, but she'd thought of the UBNA and how they'd tried to capture Naruto, and she was overcome by a desire to protect him, no matter what.

Naruto walked over to comfort her. Patting her on the shoulder, he whispered into her ear, "Hey, does he sound like a schoolteacher or what?"

Smiling up at the blonde, Hinata giggled and nodded.

"Sensei, who is that?" Sakura asked, frowning over at the figure half shrouded in the darkness of the trees. He had stood straight up and was now approaching them briskly, head held high. He entered into the sun, and Sakura blinked in surprise-- this guy had long silver hair, pulled back into a high ponytail. He wore a dark green poncho that reached all the way to his knees and a pair of black ninja pants with silver stitches in the bottom of them. His sandals were a dark green to match his poncho, and he carried a dark green umbrella at his side. Over his forehead he wore a dark green forehead protector, and upon that was the Amegakure's symbol. His dark eyes scanned their group, and as they swept across her, she could barely repress a shiver.

The man stopped about three feet away from each other, both apparently staring each other down.

The man spoke first. "Hatake."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "Nomura."

They were silent for a few more seconds. Then: "How do I really know it's you?"

"How do you know it's not me?"

A slight flicker of a smile flashed on the man's face, but it was gone in an instant. Then, quick as a flash, he was shouting, pointing an accusing finger at their sensei. "My sister's name!"

Kakashi had taken on the same dramatic pose as the man, his finger about an inch away from the other man's. "'Tatsuki! What organization was I in when we met?"

"Easy! The ANBU! When we were caught sneaking peeks in that bathhouse in the village about a mile away from here, who did we blame it on?!"

"Jiraiya sensei!" Kakashi yelled back. By now, they were getting plenty of odd looks from the teens standing around them. Naruto had a weird look on his face as he watched, his attention apparently focused on the newcomer; Lee, Akamaru, Kiba and Hinata were looking back and forth between the two men as if they were watching a mildly interesting tennis game. Sakura was frowning as if she greatly feared for her sensei's sanity, and Shino would look about as apathetic as he ever did-- if it weren't for his razor sharp eyebrows steadily inching towards his hairline.

"You're good," The man interjected, lowering his arm and stood upright, eyes still glued to the other man. Kakashi did the same, and a silence grew between the two. It stretched longer and longer, and right before Naruto was about to say something the man with the ponytail pointed towards Kakashi again, with less drama this time. "OKAY!!" He shouted, startling the teens enough to make Hinata fall backwards. The girl would've hit the ground had Naruto not caught her in the last moment. "Final question: What did I do the first time I met you?"

"You attacked me with your umbrella and nearly drowned me with a water jutsu," Kakashi answered lightly, shrugging. He crossed his arms and smirked as if the question he was about to ask would prove whether he was the man he knew or not. In a low voice, he asked, "How old am I?"

The other man stared at him for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, he began cracking up laughing, doubling over. "Ah, I don't think anyone could answer that one correctly. Welcome back, Kakashi."

"Well, it's kind of good to be back, Shinji," Kakashi replied, smiling through his mask. He walked forwards and patted the laughing man on the back, gesturing towards his students. "Shinji, these are my students. Their names are Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuga, and Naruto Uzumaki." He pointed toward each of them as he said their names.

Akamaru barked at the Jonin, affronted that he was left out of the role call.

Smiling, Kakashi said, "I apologize. My SEVENTH student, the hairy short one, is called Akamaru Inuzuka."

The dog smiled and laid down while Kiba chuckled and rubbed behind his ears.

Shinji grinned at this little display. "Well, to the seven of you, I say greetings. My name is Shinji Nomura, as you probably already know, and I am Kakashi's friend that you will be staying with for a while. I doubt Kakashi has told you how exactly we met, so--"

"Wait a second-- Nomura? As in, _Tatsuki Nomura?!" _Naruto exclaimed, glaring over Hinata's head at the newcomer. Shinji's eyes went wide as he heard the name, and a hint of depression itched at his facial features.

"Did… Kakashi, did you tell them about Tatsuki?" He asked slowly, looking over at his friend. Kakashi nodded.

"Your sister attacked me!" Naruto yelled. Hinata jumped at the volume of his voice, feeling about as skittish as she always used to be. Why did everyone around here have to yell?

Shinji looked at Kakashi with an eyebrow raised, and the older man nodded once again. "Hai, we've already had a few run-ins with the UBNA. They've followed us almost ever since we left the village, and they recognized me right off the bat."

"Ah, so that's why the uniform change came about," Shinji stated, looking his friend up and down with approval.

Kakashi nodded. "Two days ago, Naruto here was attacked by your sister and a squad of the UBNA. They tried to take him hostage, but he was able to defeat them all."

Hinata touched the lavender flowers that she'd tucked behind her ear, suppressing a chill at the memory of seeing Naruto as beat up as he was the other day. He'd fought that squad of enemy nin and was barely able to win, and still he'd brought these back…for her. Did that mean that, maybe, just maybe, he had feelings for her…?

Shinji bowed his head, looking genuinely ashamed of what his sister had done. "Gomenasai, Naruto. I apologize with my greatest regrets for what my sister and her squad did to you, and I will do anything and everything to make it up to you. I will allow you to yell at me all you want about that incident when we get home, but for now we just need to make sure we get there. If you all will follow me, we can probably get through here without too much hassle." Pulling a strange-looking lantern out from beneath his poncho, he lit it up with a turn of a knob, and the orange yellow light cleared all the shade around the group. He started towards the deep forest, but then turned and looked back at them. "Stay close to me, and pair up with a buddy in case you get lost."

Kiba leaned down and patted his dog on the head, indicating that he'd found his buddy; Sakura tugged on Hinata's arm, and Lee walked over to stand beside Shino. Seeing that all his teammates were taken, Naruto grumbled all the way over to his sensei, who smiled lightly. "I wonder if I could read my book by torchlight…"

"No reading," Shinji said, laughing at the dejected look on Kakashi's face. He grew solemn again as he continued. "This goes for all of you: do not talk about the UBNA-- or Tatsuki, for that matter-- until we're save in my house, Ok? As you may have guessed, they're not exactly a light topic around here."

They all nodded at him, and as the others began to follow him into the trees, Sakura stopped suddenly. Her breath caught in her throat as she listened to the voice inside her head.

"Well, Sakura… This is kind of nostalgic, isn't it? That man there… He's looking for revenge against his sibling for killing off their entire clan… Guess I'm not the only Avenger you're supposed to meet on your journey through life… Wonder what you're supposed to do with this one, hmm?"

Hinata stopped as her pink haired friend doubled over, watching her grip the fabric of her pale pink skirt. "Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, eyes wide. She saw a few glistening tears fall from the other girl's face, and she wondered if she'd been injured somehow.

"Ano, it's-- it's nothing, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, standing upright by a sheer force of will. Wiping the few droplets of tears away from her cheeks, she glanced over at Lee, who was the only other person besides Hinata to realize that something was wrong with their pink haired companion. She nodded at him, as if to tell him that she was alright. Looking as if he didn't believe her, he turned and continued his conversation with Shino as if nothing had happened.

Sakura began to walk forward, she and Hinata bringing up the rear of the group, and the dark haired kunoichi had no choice but to follow her. As they walked into the forest, she looked up at the last wisps of sky she would see in a while, deep in thought. _Oh, Sasuke-kun, _she thought, trying her best not to cry again. _What do you want from me? Why do you keep contacting me like this? What in the hell do you want?!_

The sky above gave no condolences, no answers. It remained a deep wise blue, seemingly mocking her with it's infinite knowledge. She found that she instantly hated the sky, and she felt relief as the trees above blocked it from her view. _Maybe it won't be so bad not to see the sky for a while…_

≈

So, that was Chapter six. (I swear, I'm going to have to stop making these chapters longer and longer…. Sigh) Hope you liked it, _know _you liked the snickerdoodles ­. Goodnight, all, gomenasai for the wait!


	7. Chapter 7

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Hello, everyone!! I am glad to say that this chapter has a bit more action in it than the last, so those of you who were somewhat bored by the last chapter should like this one a bit better. I daresay I do, and the secret behind Tatsuki and Shinji's past is revealed! Ooooo it's killing me, knowing that you all are sitting here reading the Author's Notes instead of scrolling right down to the story, so I'm gonna cut it short and get right to the chase! Let the fic begin!!

Oh, and P.S.-- Gomenasai for the longer wait for this chappie, but I started school yesterday and I was really exhausted at the end of the day. Ugh, whoever invented Team Sports should be castrated!! T.T XD

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in the anime/manga, but I do own Shinji and the other Amegakure nin (And yes, we all know _I don't even own the first chappie!!_) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

≈

The rainforest was harder to navigate than most of the teenage nin had thought. The level ground was lost in a sea of undergrowth, loose rocks, and stray roots that were all too eager to trip the unsuspecting ninja. After a few minutes of walking through the trees, they were all sweating, Naruto was complaining, and Hinata had tripped one too many times and sprained her ankle. Seeing the helpless kunoichi, Shinji offered to carry her, but Naruto, overcome with jealousy for some reason, got to her first. Both ninja blushed as he hauled her up into his arms, bridal style, but neither seemed too disappointed. After he'd picked Hinata up, Naruto also stopped complaining and began to talk animatedly to the girl in his arms, a relief to everyone around him. Hinata seemed overjoyed too, shyly wrapping her arms around his neck. Seeing this, Kiba elbowed Lee, jokingly saying that maybe he oughta carry Sakura, too. Lee didn't seem too disappointed with the suggestion, but a blushing Sakura threatened to send Kiba's face into the ground if he didn't stuff it. The spiky haired shinobi, obviously, complied.

After about an hour, something began dripping from above. Distracted from the girl in his arms for a moment, Naruto frowned upwards and said, "This better not be what I think it is!"

"It's rain, Naruto," Shino answered, raising an eyebrow at the blonde. "This is a rainforest, after all. Why, what did you think it was?"

Naruto blushed and replied by mumbling incoherently. Shino shook his head as Sakura frowned and Kiba laughed. Hinata giggled and tightened her hold around Naruto's neck, effectively getting his attention drawn back to her and their conversation. "So, Hinata-chan, like I was telling you, about Ero-Senin…"

Another hour passed and the group had almost reached their limit. Naruto had run out of stories about his perverted sensei that he hadn't already told to Hinata, and instead carried her in a comfortable silence. Lee still wasn't carrying Sakura, but instead had sprained his own ankle after getting caught up in a surprisingly thick bush. Sakura wouldn't carry him, but she was supporting him with an arm around his middle and one of his arms draped over her shoulders. The rain that had began to fall in a light shower had developed into a downpour, and the only one seemingly enjoying the event was Shinji himself. "You get used to the rain after a while," He called back to them. "You don't mind the rain when you grow up in it your entire life." A few of his followers cursed him under their breaths at his comment.

Another half an hour had passed, and finally Shinji turned around. "What you are about to see is one of the most difficult Hidden Villages to reach, and because of this we don't get many visitors."

"Hmm, well, I wonder why?" Kiba muttered not-so-lowly, and a few of his peers chuckled at his joke.

Shinji smiled too. "Hai, we get a lot of that around here. Well, follow me this way and we'll finally be able to rest…"

They walked a few more feet, where their leader stopped in front of a really ancient-looking tree-- the trunk was at least twelve feet long around, and some of the bark was stripped from the tree, revealing the green-brown skin underneath. With the tip of his umbrella, Shinji drew a kanji symbol in the green-brown skin that was unfamiliar to the Konoha nin, and then he slammed his free left hand onto the symbol, pumping his visible cerulean chakra into the tree.

The effect was amazing-- the limbs of the tree all reformed and slid down the tree, stopping at Shinji's feet and winding up around the tree trunk. It now looked like a spiral stairway wound it's way up the trunk, farther than any of them could see.

"Wow, that's really amazing, Nomura-san!" Lee cried, eyes wide as he looked the gigantic stairway up and down with approval.

"Nomura-san, isn't any jutsu associated with trees or any sort of earth considered Earth jutsu, not Water jutsu?"

"Hai, it is Earth jutsu I just used," Shinji replied, walking forward and looking up the trunk, following the 'staircase' with his eyes. "To hide our village a little better, though, all of our remaining nin-- all of our loyal Jonin-- were taught a few Earth jutsus to keep the village hidden. Confuse a few enemy nin, ne? No one would expect a water village to be hidden using a couple of Earth jutsu, see. Well, on we go-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second," Sakura cried, eyes wide. Gesturing at her green clad friend, she asked, "Do you really expect me to drag Lee up those stairs?"

"You wouldn't have to, Sakura-san! I could walk!"

"Oh, you could?" Sakura asked in a sarcastic tone, raising an eyebrow at him. She was fighting to keep the corners of her mouth down, but she couldn't keep a slight twitch out of her lips.

"No, really, I can!" Lee declared, pushing away from her just to prove a point. He removed his hand from her shoulder and stood upright for about two seconds. Sakura had to catch him before he fell backwards, his injured ankle giving out. Shaking slightly, he grinned at her. "Well, heh-- guess I can't, huh?"

Shinji chuckled. "Well, at least we're prepared for something like this." Drawing another kanji seal in the tree's bark under the first one, he said, "Alright, Sakura, set Lee down on that little patch of short grass over there. Yeah, right there. Okay, Naruto, lay Hinata down right beside Lee."

"What? But I could climb those stairs with Hinata-chan too," Naruto protested, obviously hesitant to give up the girl in his arms. Hinata giggled and blushed at this.

"I'm sure you could, were they real stairs," Shinji replied, checking the kanji seal he'd made for any mistakes. "No, these are tree branches, and tree branches break. Plus, there's no railing, like normal stairs would have, so walking up these stairs screams 'balance', something you wouldn't have if you had Hinata in your arms."

Still frowning, Naruto relented. "Fine, okay? Fine." He walked over to where Lee sat and gently sat her behind him, her back to him. He smiled at her once more and then stepped back to stand with his remaining teammates.

"Okay, here we go," Shinji said, turning back to the tree trunk. "Okay, Lee and Hinata, one thing before I activate this jutsu-- don't panic." Before the teens could ask questions, the silver haired man had slammed his left hand against the tree bark, and his blue chakra was once again seen pumping into the seal.

Suddenly, something snaked out of the tall branches of the forest, serpentine-like. Lee gasped, Sakura pointed, crying out "What's that?", and Hinata sat there, looking horrified as the snake thing wound through the forest towards them. Naruto was

Instantly concerned and bolted forwards to snatch his friends away from the thing, but Kakashi held him back. "Hold on, Naruto. I think this is the jutsu Shinji activated."

The serpentine thing came into view, and everyone gasped as they realized what it was-- a thick branch, one that stretched out from the ancient tree itself. The branch snaked down and around Lee and Hinata, and to this Lee gasped. "Wow, Nomura-san! This is amazing!" The branch tightened it's hold around them, enough to where it allowed no movement whatsoever.

"Remember, you two," Shinji called out, and as the two brought their gazes over to him he smiled. "Don't panic."

≈

_Easy for you to say, _Hinata thought, screaming at the top of her lungs as the branch pulled her and Lee skyward at breakneck speed. The rain, already pouring, was like needles on the backs of their necks, stinging every time it hit bare skin. Along with the stinging rain, brown and green mixed in her vision as they whipped past the trees, making her somewhat nauseous. Behind her, Lee was the same way, though he seemed to be enjoying it: "WOOHOOOO!" was what he was screaming as they flew up and away from their comrades. Listening to him scream, she had a pretty good idea of what he looked like-- face red, long black hair flopping every which way. His eyes were round and wide, and his mouth was shaped like an 'o' as he screamed. Veins were popping up all over his forehead, and he almost looked like he had activated the Byakugan. This humorous envision should have made her laugh, but at the moment it did nothing to lighten her mood.

It seemed almost an eternity before they began to slow, and it was even longer before she could stop screaming. Lee's cries were also dying out, and the two watched in wonder as the thick branch set them down on a small wooden landing. Detangling them from itself, the branch disappeared, winding back down the way it came.

Glancing around, Lee's eyes widened in surprise. "It seems as if we are up in the trees."

Hinata looked over at him, worry creasing her visage. "N-Nani?"

Lee nodded, his now windblown black hair waving along with the motion. "Hai. When the branch picked us up, it must've brought us up through the trees, and sat us down on some sort of octagonal platform." Rising onto his hands and knees, keeping his sprained ankle up off of the floor, he crawled over to the edge of the landing. Looking past the railing, he screeched. "H-Hinata-san, I think you should come see this…"

Biting her lip, Hinata did the same as her green clad companion, crawling over beside him. Looking over the edge, she screamed.

The ground was nowhere to be seen. Limbs of trees thicker than any the Konoha nin had ever seen snaked in between each other, blocking the forest below and beyond from view. Even up on the railing of their platform, small limbs wound their ways around the rails along with unfamiliar vines. Even the wooden platform they sat on seemed to be propped up by nothing but those limbs.

As Hinata rocked back on her good leg, eyes wide and feeling faint, Lee struggled to stand, pulling himself up with the railing of their platform. "Alright!" He roared, startling the shy girl beside him. He fell into the nice guy pose, and cried, "Oi, Gai sensei! The Flames of Youth have empowered me as I traveled, going where no Konohagakure Chunin has gone before! Congratulate me, for I will return with plenty of knowledge about this village's Taijutsu skills! Yosh!"

Hinata watched him, staring wide-eyed as he declared this to no one in particular. As she gazed on, she suddenly knew why Sakura hadn't liked Lee in the first place. He was loud, random, and he idolized his sensei more than was healthy. Though she saw his shortcomings, Hinata also realized why Sakura had began to fall for him. He had a good heart, and through his obnoxiousness she could see a quiet and reserved person inside of him, someone who was sweet and also slightly shy. She also realized that while he shouldn't worship Gai sensei as much as he did, he did it for a good reason-- without Gai he may have ended up not becoming a ninja, may have ended up as an ordinary guy in an ordinary life. She knew that a life like that would not have been enough for the Taijutsu master-- he was one of those people that enjoyed the rush of being so strong and capable. Kind of like Naruto-kun.

Suddenly, a small brown squirrel suddenly launched itself out of the trees surrounding them and jumped right onto Lee's shoulder, surprising the teen. Startled out of his reverie, Lee lost his balance and crashed to the floor of the platform, right next to Hinata. The squirrel did not leave in a panic, but instead stared at Lee as if mildly interested in the green clad nin.

Looking around him, Lee noticed that the squirrel had not run off, and his eyes got starry and glazed. "Ooooohh, Hinata-san, LOOK! A SQUIRREL!!"

Hinata was also infatuated with the animal, being someone who loved most small animals. Tentatively, she reached out and stroked the tiny squirrel's head. When it didn't run from her, she cooed, "Wow, Lee-kun! He's doesn't seem to be scared of people at all!"

"YOSH!" Lee thundered, his teeth glittering. When still the squirrel did not leave, Lee's eyes turned into hearts, a wide grin cracking his features. "Wow! Even the squirrels back in Konoha won't stay on my shoulder when I scream like that! I think I've found a new friend, Hinata-san!"

Equally intrigued and amazed, Hinata's eyes glittered as much as Lee's had. "If only Naruto-kun were here… Hey, Lee-kun, what are you going to name him?"

"I don't know Hinata-san… But whatever I decide to name him, it _will _be a name befitting my dearest companion!"

"What in the hell are you two doing?"

Startled, Hinata, Lee, and the squirrel turned to see a large man standing on the railing opposite them. He was wearing a poncho that matched the one Shinji had been wearing, and he wore a black headband with the Rain village's symbol on it. His spiky dark green hair swayed gently in the wind, and he frowned at them. His dark calculating eyes swept across them, and Hinata had the looming feeling of being X-rayed.

The man's frown deepened as he looked at them. "Well, are you two going to answer me, or do I have to beat the words out of you?"

Hinata almost fainted. Much as she tried, she couldn't get her tongue unstuck from the roof of her mouth. Beside her, Lee seemed to be having the same problem.

Sighing deeply, the large man jumped down onto the railing and began to walk towards them.

≈

"Ugh… Why couldn't we take the other way up with Hinata and Lee?" Naruto asked, huffing and puffing his way up the staircase. He brought up the end of the group, following behind Akamaru, Kiba, Kakashi, Shino, Sakura and Shinji. He was slowly trailing behind the others, trudging up the stairs while slumping.

"Exactly!" Kiba cried, also slowing down. "Why do we gotta walk up all these stairs when we could have just been dragged up there by a root!"

Sakura turned and shook her fist at them, crying, "Naruto! Kiba! Would you stop complaining? I know it's not the best of situations, but you are ninja! You should be able to deal with this!"

While tears of fear poured out of the two boys' eyes, Sakura turned and began to follow Shinji again, muttering about lazy little boys under her breath. Her whispered curses slowly trailed away as they heard a scream from above somewhere.

Naruto's tears evaporated instantly as he recognized the voice the scream belonged to. "Hinata!" He whispered, his heart suddenly gripped by an icy hand.

Shinji reacted instantly. "Kakashi, take this!" He yelled, shoving his umbrella into the other Jonin's hands. He ran through a long series of hand seals, then thrust his hands skyward, yelling "Water Release: Water Geyser no Jutsu!"

"Wha-" was all Naruto had time to say before the stairs had began to shake. Kakashi roughly grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him over to him, where everyone else was huddled under the umbrella. Suddenly, the platform underneath them shot upwards, and Naruto found himself on the ground, staring in between the makeshift stairs. Water shot up from in between the stairs, and Naruto had to cover his face to avoid being drowned.

_Well, this is better than walking the rest of the way._

≈

The unidentified nin had walked over to us slowly, like he'd been calculating our movements. Then, lightning fast, he had grabbed me by the arm and Lee-kun by the neck. Neither of us had any time to react, and though I'd reached for a kunai, the shock of seeing the man move so fast had made me forget the action.

_So fast… I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so quickly. His movements were even quicker than Neji-niisan's._

The man knew what I was going to do, and before he could drop Lee and get his free hand over my mouth I screamed.

He slammed his hand over my mouth, effectively silencing me. Leaning down to me, he hissed, "Stop it! You-Know-Who will show up, and that's the last thing the village needs right now! Wait a-- get off me, you stupid squirrel!"

Lee's squirrel had fallen off of his shoulder when the mystery nin had grabbed him by the neck . Now the squirrel had launched itself at the man's middle, trying to get it to let go of me. He tried to brush it away, but was instead thrown backwards away from me as Lee performed the Leaf Hurricane on him. Landing, he stood between me and the nin, falling into his fighting pose. "Our friends will come! They will aid us, and you will have no chance of winning!" The squirrel hopped up onto his shoulder and now stared at the other man. I could swear it was growling.

I looked around Lee to see his face. His features were scrunched up in pain, and I could tell he was fighting against the urge to collapse. The pain in my own ankle was almost too much to bear, and I wasn't the one trying to fight. I knew Lee was in excruciating pain, and I had to do something to stop the fight.

The man's eyes widened, shocked at Lee's speed, but then his dark eyes clouded with hatred. "You two are members of the UBNA, aren't you? You're here to terrorize the village again, aren't you?"

"NO!" I cried, surprising myself with the volume of my voice. I continued on, in a near panic. "W-we aren't members of the UBNA, we're running away from them! You've got it all wrong, we're coming to help the village!"

"Who's child are you going to kidnap this time around?" Said the man in a low hiss, apparently not hearing what I had said. "Who are you going to hold for ransom from a family with no money to spare? Who will die today?!"

"Didn't you hear Hinata-san?" Lee asked, frowning at the man's behavior. "She just said we weren't members of the UBNA."

"LIARS!" The man roared, jumping back up onto his feet. He launched a kick at Lee's head, who parried the attack and swept his left leg under the man's feet. The man jumped back, avoiding it.

"N-no, we're not l-lying!" I cried, nearly in tears. I knew standing wasn't good for Lee's ankle, and with him being injured he wasn't going to last very long. I had a feeling our time was almost up. "I-I swear, sir! P-please, b-b-believe me!"

"Hinata-san, he's not going to listen to us," Lee muttered under his breath. Just listening to him speak told me how much pain he was in. "He's blinded by his rage at this group, he can't see that we're not dressed like them. I guess I'm going to have to show him that we are not UBNA by for-ooop-!" Lee's knees suddenly buckled, too weak to keep going. He fell on his sprained ankle, and he howled in pain as a loud crack resounded through the forest air. I let out a low moan of revulsion as he began to sob, knowing that he'd just broken his ankle. There was no way we would get out of this situation alive now. The squirrel seemed to share my despair as it remained on Lee's shoulder, watching Lee tremble with the overwhelming pain in his leg, unable to aid his new human friend.

The man saw his chance. Smiling wickedly at us, his two injured foes, he whispered, "Now I will get revenge on the group that has terrorized my village for so long… Now I will finally land a blow on the group that took my siblings… FOR YOU, TOBI! FOR YOU, TEMA!!" He roared, launching himself at us again. I knew we were goners, and I prepared for death, wrapping my arms around Lee's waist and burying my head in his back.

"Water Technique: Typhoon no Ju-"

"RASENGAN!!!"

≈

The voice Hinata and Lee heard resounding through the trees was not that of their mystery attacker, but one that they knew all too well. Hinata looked up from her place behind Lee to see a certain someone, clad in orange garb, launch himself before them, a bright blue sphere of spinning chakra held in his outstretched hand. Their attacker flew backwards, protecting his face from the blow by crossing his arms over it. The wraps on his arms and chunks of his skin flew off as a result of Naruto's attack, and Hinata buried her face in Lee's back once again, sickened by it.

They felt people land on the platform around them, and as someone began to yell Hinata felt an arm on her shoulder. "Hinata, are you alright? What happened?"

She looked up into Kiba's concerned face. "I… I…"

"Lee? Lee!" She heard Sakura cry from her other side, and Lee was taken not-so-gently from her clutching arms. Before her, Sakura laid the green clad nin out on the platform, on the verge of tears. "Oh no-- your ankle! It's been broken!"

Lee tried for a smile to reassure the pink haired kunoichi, but all he could manage was a grimace. "I'm okay, it's not that bad-- AAUUGHHH!" He yelled as he tried to move his foot.

Sakura slapped him across the face, surprising him and the other shinobi watching. "Stop moving it, dobe, you're going to make it worse!!" A single tear fell from her teal eyes, rolled down her nose, and plinked onto his forehead.

As she set to work on his ankle, he didn't say another word, only hissed in the pain that hit him in waves. The squirrel sat beside him now, watching Sakura pour the green chakra over his ankle.

Hinata glanced up at the others, who were yelling and parrying attacks at the same time. Naruto, Shino, Kakashi and Shinji were blocking the four of them from the mystery man. Shinji was yelling at the man, the man was yelling at all of them and Kakashi and Shino were trying to hold a steaming Naruto back. The blond was yelling something about hurting his friends and paying for it no matter what.

Watching Naruto struggle so vehemently against the others, Hinata suddenly felt a rush of emotion towards him. The feelings she'd been holding back for nearly ten years all rose to the surface along with her gratitude towards him for saving their lives. She was barely able to restrain herself from yelling those three little words in his direction, three small words that meant so much. Hinata bit her tongue until it bled, trying to stop the words that were itching at her throat from being said. Finally, the urge had been quelled, and she eased her injured tongue away from her teeth. She lowered her gaze from her struggling love interest and focused on the others' yelled conversation, trying to keep Naruto out of her mind.

Shinji was shouting something at the other man, gesturing violently. "… you stupid, it's obvious these two _underage _Chunin aren't in the UBNA, what were you thinking?!"

"You don't understand! They were unfamiliar to me! I'd never seen them around, and yet they appear out of nowhere so close to the village, and without wearing forehead protectors! What was I supposed to think!"

Shinji lowered his voice only slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yasuo, you know as well as I do that a group such as the UBNA aren't pressing for members. Why would they hire a couple of wet behind the ears teenagers to help them terrorize the city?"

Lee, still entangled in his own pain, looked up slightly at Sakura, who was still busy mending his ankle. " 'Wet behind the ears?' Who does he think he is talking about, Sakura?" He muttered. Sakura, though concentrated fully on what she was doing, chuckled lightly.

The other man, Yasuo, looked up, glaring behind Shinji at Lee and Hinata. "Who knows? They might have sent these two to fool us, to lull us into a false sense of security before they really launch another attack! Innocent l-lives might be lost!… Why am I bothering explaining this to you anyway, you wouldn't understand." The man looked like he regretted what he said just as soon as the words left his mouth.

Shinji unfolded his arms, a haunted shadow falling over his face. "Wouldn't understand-? I understand the situation at hand more than you even dream you could. Don't you think I know what the UBNA is capable of? I lost my entire clan, my entire family, just like you did. We're one and the same, and you think I don't understand what you're getting at?" Shinji was visibly shaking. His hands were clenched at his sides, and blood was escaping from his cracked knuckles as the worn skin broke under pressure.

Hinata could almost feel the howl of rage and pain struggling to surpass his lips, and she felt a rush of pity towards him. She didn't know personally the pain of losing an entire family, but she definitely knew the pain of being tossed out of one. She now realized why Shinji would want to kill his sister. She still didn't like it, but she understood the why behind his actions. She even felt a bit of hatred towards Tatsuki for what she had done to Shinji and their clan.

Yasuo watched the other man shake, fear and pity in his eyes. He knew what he had said had cut deep, and he was instantly sorry for it. He bowed, his hands clasped together. "I… I… Gomenasai, Nomura-sama. I was merely angry, that's all. My judgment was clouded with my own loss, and I failed to remember that my own was not the only pain felt by the wretched UBNA's handiwork. Please, forgive me."

Shinji, head still bowed, nodded slowly. "It… Your apology is accepted, Takahashi-san. I know you suffered well, and I understand. I grant you a full reprieve from your missions for a few days. Think of it as a small vacation, alright?"

Yasuo nodded, a hollowness creeping into his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Arigato, Nomura-sama." Bowing once again, he turned and hopped back up onto the railing and launched off into the trees, disappearing from sight.

Shinji sighed heavily before turning around to the group. "Gomenasai, everybody… Yasuo's a really good guy, he is, but sometimes his loss can get ahead of him, and he loses control."

"What happened?" Shino asked.

Another deep sigh. Then: "Yasuo and I were friends when we were children. When I was thirteen years old, me, Yasuo, and another Genin were on a mission when Tatsuki murdered my clan. I… I was the only one who survived only because I was gone, and yet I was the one she had really wanted to kill." He lowered his gaze, hiding his eyes from the rest of them. "Ano.. A year later, Tatsuki came back for me. She came disguised as an UBNA, which was still supposedly 'serving the Hidden Villages' back then, you see. They entered the village under the premise that 'a group of enemy ninja were hiding among the true citizens', and they had come to eliminate them or something. Naturally, the entire village was on edge the entire four days the group were there, but none more than I. For some reason, the group's leader seemed awfully familiar to me, and though they kept their faces hidden behind those odd masks with the red eyes, I knew that the leader was a girl. Her voice sounded familiar, and yet I couldn't place a name. Then, she came to Yasuo's house." Tears were pouring from his hidden eyes, and yet he continued. "She… She killed his parents, instantly and painfully. Neither of them were really strong, so she made quick work of them. Yasuo and I were outside in the woods when we heard something coming from his house. We went back and looked through the window, just to see what was going on.

"There, on the floor, was his parents, and on the couch were his little brother and sister, tied up together. The leader, she… She kept using some sort of medical jutsu on them to torture them, something that made them just scream and scream. She kept asking them where I was, did I live there, and those kids, bless their souls… They wouldn't tell her, wouldn't give me away. Finally, she just pumped a bunch of chakra into their bodies, and they slumped over. Yasuo screamed, 'No!' and the leader looked towards the window so suddenly that her mask fell away. I-I couldn't believe it was Tatsuki…"

Shinji remained quiet for a few minutes afterwards, trying to calm himself down. The Chunin plus Naruto were all looking at him with a mixture of pity and horror, and Kakashi had folded his arms and was staring at the wooden floor, as if the story still sickened him and he could barely stand to listen.

"She came at us. Right through the window. I pulled Yasuo out of the way at the last moment, and we jumped away into the trees. He kept struggling against me, wanting to go back and save his siblings. I told him it was too late, they were gone… But he wouldn't listen. Finally, I had to knock him over the head to make him come along peacefully.

"Soon, I made it to one of only three entrances to the village, a platform much like the one we're standing on now. Tatsuki was instantly upon us, having trailed us from Yasuo's house. I laid my unconscious friend over to the side and prepared for battle-- I knew I was going to have to fight her.

"Tatsuki had always been better at Genjutsu than me, but I had been more skilled using Taijutsu than she was. I ran at her, and all of the fury I had bottled up inside of me from a year ago just came out. I started attacking her relentlessly, pausing only to take a breath. She was barely able to block and parry my blows, and soon it was just too much for her. I got her right in the face, and she'd flown backwards, back slamming against the railing. She stood back up, and I was about to launch another flurry of attacks when she used her talent. First, she transformed into our mother.

"That stopped me. I just stood there and stared, my heart frozen, as she changed again into our father, and then into one of our cousins. It was like I was seeing their bodies all over again, reliving that hell from a year ago. I fell onto my knees, holding my head and screaming 'Make it stop! Make it stop!'" He sniffed once, then continued. "She saw her chance. Transforming back into her old self, she walked towards me and began charging up her chakra. 'I'm finally gonna destroy the last of the Nomura clan, and then I'm going to inherit the secret of our bloodline!' I was confused, so she explained…"

_A few years ago, I heard father talking to one of our uncles in a hallway of the Nomura Compound. I hid in the closet and listened in, curious as to what they would be talking about. After all, you know father and his brothers were never very close. Why would he confide anything in them? _

_Anyway, father was saying something about a hidden skill of the Nomura clan, and how he really wanted to find a way to earn it. Our uncle, who was a little older than father, slapped him. "You imbecile!" He cried. "Do you not know what it takes to receive that bloodlimit?!"_

"_I… I… No," Father had answered, sounding a little sheepish as his elder brother glared at him._

_Uncle growled low in the back of his throat. "A Nomura who wishes to gain the hidden bloodline limit must first spill the blood of their entire clan."_

"_You aren't serious?"  
_

Shinji raised his head, no longer crying, and he looked around at them all. "The only reason I was able to escape that day was because I was saved by the village leader, the . He intervened as Tatsuki was about to deliver the final blow. He knocked her away from me and told her to leave me alone. She tried to get back at me, but the wouldn't let her by. Finally she gave up and jumped off into the trees."

All were silent as Shinji finished his story. Hinata was nearly in tears as she looked up at the man, and Naruto and Kiba were staring wide-eyed at him. Lee had sat up when Sakura had finished with his ankle, and was now staring up into the sky, frowning slightly. He leaned slightly against Sakura, and she had wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his back, horrified at the story.

After a few minutes, Shinji shook his head slightly, then smiled weakly at them. "Well, everyone, I guess we should get to the village now. We'll go straight to my house and get you all out of those wet clothes. Does that sound good?"

His suggestion was met by many eager faces, and he led the way to the edge of the platform, Lee walking stiffly and Hinata in Naruto's arms. Shinji climbed up onto the railing and motioned for everyone to follow.

"Okay now, on my mark, you jump into the trees," He commanded, his voice echoing over all of them. "Follow behind me, and for your own safety, _do not _fall off a limb. Am I correct?"

"Hai," Echoed the teens. Kakashi chuckled lightly at this, and Shinji smiled.

"Alright, and… JUMP!!"

Jumping through these trees was not what Kiba had expected, and definitely different from jumping from tree to tree back home in Konoha. At home, you didn't have to duck and really _pay attention _to where you were going. The trees had enough distance between them that you were confident that you would get there without hitting anything. Here, the limbs were closer together, there were vines and everything hanging in the way, and it was really hard to see. Kiba kept thinking they'd get lost, or they'd get tangled up in something, and they'd never see Konoha again--

-- and they burst out into light. Fresh, deep sunlight shone down on them, and the dark mood from earlier seemed to vanish along with the darkness.

≈

Sorry to leave you hangin' there at the end, but I've gotta have a little more time to work on the village. Luv ya, hope ya luv my story!! See ya! (P.S.-- I made the entire village up. I really don't know anything about the village or it's whereabouts, so I apolegize if it's not exactly canon. I can at least say I tried!! XD)


	8. Chapter 8

Gentle Fist, Will of Fire

Hello, my fans! I am so very sorry about not updating in, like, a month-- school fucks my entire schedule up the… ah… never mind. Yeah. So. (Sorry about the unexpected vulgarity, people. School can do that to a person, you know.)

Anyway, I would like to present chapter eight of Gentle Fist, Will of Fire! Yay! Kudos!

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters featured in the anime/manga, but I do own Shinji and the other Amegakure nin (And yes, we all know _I don't even own the first chappie!!_) No copyright infringement was intended when I wrote this fiction.

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I stood in the large town square, amazed by what I was seeing. We stood on a floor made of thick capable wood. All around us small houses jutted up from the floor, made of the same wood. Scantly scattered around the houses were the largest trees we Konoha nin had ever seen before, coming up through the wooden floor from apparently thousands of feet below. _We are thousands of feet above the ground… _Just the thought of it was enough to make me queasy, and I swayed a little bit. I felt a steadying hand on my arm and I looked left to see a smiling Lee looking down at me, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" He asked, his voice so low I had to strain my ears to hear it. His tone was comforting, calming, and I found myself smiling serenely back at him.

I nodded at him, our distance from the ground of no importance to me while I stared into his soothing eyes, goofy as they were. "I'm just fine, Lee."

"It's been a long time since I've been here," Kakashi said, walking up to stand on my right. His voice was quiet, and as he looked around at the small village a hint of sadness crept into his tone. "It's still as barren as ever, I see…"

"Hai, it is," Nomura-san agreed, coming to stand behind Kakashi sensei and I. Viewing his village with a hint of pained remembrance in his eyes, he continued, "Since the village is so hard to find, and since most of our Jonin are either missing-nin or dead, any sense of community or unity has all but burned out. The only thing that keeps this village tied down is the children, I think." As he spoke, two boys, looking about seven each, ran from behind one house towards another. Seeing the group that had just entered into the village, the kids redirected their chase towards them, wide grins on their faces.

"Nomura-sama! Nomura-sama!" They cried, both skidding to a stop before the redheaded ninja. The one with darker hair swung a cobalt blue umbrella around in the air. "Look, Nomura-sama! I got my umbrella today! Isn't it so cool?!"

Hai, Kenji, it is," Shinji replied, kneeling down to get eye level with the two of them.

The lighter haired one, feeling somewhat left out, jumped up and down a few times until Shinji looked at him. "But, but, Nomura-sama! I'm gonna get mine in a couple of weeks when I turn seven!" He squealed shrilly.

Shinji patted him on the head, grinning slightly at him. "Whoa, whoa, Kai, I hear you," He said. "What color are you gonna pick, hmm?"

That question put stars in the boy's eyes. "Dark green, like yours, Nomura-sama!"

The other boy became jealous of the attention Kai was getting, so he chased him off, swinging his umbrella at him and yelling intelligibly.

"They sure are hyped up about those umbrellas, aren't they?" Naruto asked from somewhere behind me.

Shinji stood up, nodding and grinning. "Hai. As you now know, Naruto, these umbrellas are used to keep our shuriken. Whenever we open them up with the right amount of force, BAM! Six shuriken fly out at you."

"That boy doesn't have shuriken in his umbrella, does he?" I asked, wincing as I saw Kenji whack Kai over the head with his blue umbrella.

Shinji chuckled. "No, Sakura. The children aren't taught how to put shuriken in their umbrellas until they take the specified class in the academy."

As I breathed a sigh of relief, Kiba looked to the sky behind us, spreading his arms wide. "Man, that sunlight really hits the spot! I think my clothes are starting to dry out. How 'bout you, Akamaru?"

The drenched white dog barked in agreement.

We all laughed, and Shinji began to walk. "Here, follow me, everyone. We'll go to my house and get you all out of those damp clothes, and I'll dry them. Then you can rest and explore the village, if you want. There isn't much to see here, as you all already know, but it's something none of you Chunin have ever seen before, correct? A village in the trees…"

After a while of walking through the rain soaked village, we approached one of the larger buildings, one that looked like it would be able to hold the entire village… or an entire clan. It was secluded from the other houses, with more trees surrounding it than the others. There was also a small wooden fence surrounding the estate, with a small gate allowing entrance.

Glancing around the grounds, I was surprised. There was actually some decoration here. Before the house on either side of the small steps leading onto the porch there were two small gardens, and inside them were some of those exotic flowers we'd seen earlier in the trip. Purple, red, yellow and white jumped out at my eyes from the gardens, and I smiled at the well cared for plants. My smile quickly faded as I looked up at the house.

It was a two story building, wide and dark and foreboding. I was faintly reminded of the time I'd walked up into the Uchiha clan section of Konoha, looking for Sasuke. It was desolate and quiet, faintly smelling of iron. It chilled my heart knowing that I would have to live in a place like that for who knew how long. Unconsciously I stopped, staring up at the big building, my mind and my heart trailing back to a certain dark haired shinobi…

"Sakura."

"Eep!" I cried, turning around. There, in the entrance to one of the old, broken down houses, was Sasuke. His charcoal eyes pierced my very soul, and I was chilled by the look in his eyes. He almost looked angry, and I felt myself become very small under his gaze.

"What are you doing here?"

I tried shaking off my initial shock and fear, telling myself it was only Sasuke. There was no need to worry about him. It was just Sasuke, right? That look I saw in his eyes must have simply been a trick of the light. The sun was really bright, after all. I tried to speak, and still my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth.

"This isn't exactly somewhere I imagine you'd enjoy being. After all, my entire clan was slaughtered on these grounds, you know."

That was enough to get me talking. "Uh-- I-- j-just--" _Ugh, why are you so STUPID, Sakura?! _My inner self roared, her fists shaking at me. _This is _SASUKE _you are talking to here! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, YOU BAKA!! _"Ka-Kakashi sensei wanted to talk to all of us. Something about a mission," I said, feeling a rush of relief as I began to speak. Maybe I didn't look as stupid in front of Sasuke as I thought I did.

Unfortunately, he just stared at me, his dark eyes as apathetic as always. "Fine. We should go, then." He walked away from the building, closing the door gently behind him. He turned away from me, then cast me a glance over his shoulder. "The training grounds?"

I nodded, and said "Hai" in a small voice, but Sasuke had already jumped up onto the roof of the building he'd been inside and then off of it, heading towards the village gate. I breathed a sigh of disappointment as Inner Sakura screamed _Cha! He LOOKED at us, Sakura! Do you know what this means?!_

Ignoring my inner voice, I took one last glance around the Uchiha place before following Sasuke in the direction of the forest. I was glad to be away from the place, but I was still curious as to why Sasuke had been in that one building. Did that…. Was that building where he used to live with his parents?

"Oh, Sasuke…"

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?" I asked, snapping back into reality. Lee was waving a hand before my face, a concerned expression on his countenance; beside him, Hinata and Kakashi stood, wearing the same expression. I waved them away, saying "I'm fine, I'm fine" and I walked past them and up the stairs of the mansion, where the others were waiting. I didn't think Lee believed me, but I wasn't going to worry about that now.

"Okay," Nomura-san said, pulling out a key from underneath his dark green poncho. "Let's hurry inside. Take off your sandals at the door, I'll get to those later, and then follow me. I'll take you all to the bathhouses, surely you'll want to shower after that long trip…"

After we finished our respective baths, Naruto, Hinata and I explored the house. It was 'freakin' humongous', as Naruto described it. Three bathrooms, one downstairs and two upstairs. Four bedrooms plus a guest room, three downstairs and two on the upper level. We met Shino and the other two halfway through our search, and we continued on together.

Downstairs we walked into the kitchen. It was also 'humongous', bigger than I'd ever seen. The counter, a dark reddish brown, wound all the way around the room, leaving only room for the stove and the refrigerator. A wide window opened up behind the sink, allowing someone to have a wonderful view into the courtyard before the house. Naruto looked through all of the cabinets above the counters for ramen, and, finding none, he cleared out an entire shelf and stuffed his own packages into it, filling it up and making his backpack look quite deflated. Leaving the abandoned contents of the cleared shelf on the counter, a satisfied blonde led the way out of the kitchen.

Afterwards, we met with Shinji, who showed us to our rooms. "Naruto and Lee will have the bedroom here, off the kitchen," He said, gesturing to the room. The two boys took their bags into the room. Taking a peek into the door, I saw that the room was pretty big, too. There were already two mattresses laid side by side on the floor, and a dresser was on either side of the room. A long mirror stood against the wall to the left, and across the room from it was a large window looking upon the courtyard. It was painted a light blue, and both Naruto and Lee looked quite pleased when they walked out.

"Kiba and Shino will have the bedroom over here, right before the stairs, and Kakashi will sleep in the one across the hall," Shinji continued, leading us into the hall. He pointed towards a closed door on the right, and then another on the left. Kiba and Shino entered into the door on the right, and the rest of us were led up the stairs by Shinji.

Up on the top landing, we turned and walked down the long hallway until we reached yet another closed door, the last one in the hall. "This is my bedroom," He said, knocking on the door. "You can roam anywhere in this house besides this room. No matter what, don't come in here, okay?"

The four of us nodded simultaneously, each with the same thought crossing our brainwaves.

_What is in there that is so important?_

Silently, he led us back along the hallway, and then stopped us in front of a door halfway between the ends of the hall. "This," He said, opening the door. "is your room. You can go on ahead and get unpacked, if you want. I'm gonna make some supper, and it'll be a while."

He, Naruto and Lee left, and Hinata and I began unpacking our meager belongings. Our room was almost exactly like Naruto and Lee's, except it was painted a pale yellow instead of blue. As I finished unpacking my undergarments into my dresser, I watched Hinata tenderly tuck the pajamas she'd received from Naruto into the top drawer. She took the picture of her and the blonde on the Hokage monuments and sat it on the top of her own dresser. She closed the drawers gently, then realized I was watching. She blushed, and I smiled.

"It's alright, Hinata, don't be embarrassed," I whispered, and she smiled back. We were then joined by the other four, and the six of us walked back downstairs, opting to walk around the village while Shinji made supper. As soon as we got outside, Naruto's stomach rumbled, and he couldn't stand it.

Eyes ablaze, the blonde gave us all a bloodthirsty grin. "Let's go see if they have any ramen shops here!"

"But Naruto, Nomura-sama's making dinner," I replied, putting my hands on my hips and frowning. Naruto would have none of it, and we finally found ourselves standing around a table while Naruto read off of a menu. We were about to give up when he put a finger to the paper.

"THERE!!" He cried, grinning triumphantly. "See? I told you they would have ramen here somewhere."

Sighing, I sat down beside my teammate, knowing that if he liked this store's ramen we would be here for a while. The others took my incentive, and a jittery waitress who looked barely older than us came to our table. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a low bun, and she poked her pinkie fingers together as she nervously asked for our order.

"We don't want to eat anything," I said, giving Hinata a quick glance to see if she'd noticed the girl's fingers. Then I pointed at the blonde, grinning stupidly at me. "_Except _him. He wants to order lord knows how many cups of ramen."

Looking satisfied, Naruto laid the menu on the table. "I'll have one cup of miso ramen, please."

The waitress stood and stared at Naruto, looking shocked. This made all of us tense, except Naruto, who was still grinning stupidly. She then realized what she was doing and quickly apologized. "Oh-- G-gomenasai, gomenasai. I-I apologize for asking, but-- are you all tourists?"

Kiba frowned, and opened his mouth to snap at the waitress.

Hinata beat him to the punch. "Hai, we are. Our friend is familiar with this place, and we decided we'd come and see the sights. Why do you ask?"

The girl blushed slightly as she answered. "A-ano... The people of th-this village never order r-ramen, even though i-it's on the menu. I-I keep telling papa-san to t-take it off, but he insists k-keeping it on there. He says t-that my ramen would ch-cheer any tourists day."

"You cook and waitress the place?" I asked, eyes wide. I couldn't imagine such a small and timid girl doing so much work around this small shop.

Her face turned a deeper shade of red. "H-hai. W-with so many of o-our people coming up m-missing or d-dead--" She said the last word in a near whisper-- "there's n-no one else in the village wh-who'll lend anyone else a helping h-hand." She gazed out onto the wooden street, a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Papa-san said the village d-didn't al-always used to be like this…"

She shook her head. "Gomenasai, I'll get that ramen for you." And with that, she shuffled back to the kitchen and out of our sight.

"Man… This village is in sad shape," Kiba muttered, leaning in so that only us at the table could hear him.

"I know! To think the people of this village never order ramen!" Naruto hissed, eyes wide.

"Naruto! Kiba wasn't talking about that, you baka!" I cried, whopping him over the head. As tears of pain began to pour out of his eyes, I was suddenly distracted by someone who was standing outside of the restaurant. His back was turned, and he wore some sort of strange white robe. One look at the purple rope tied around his waist and the dark, spiky hair on his head told me all I needed to know.

I stood up abruptly, startling everyone around the table. I began to walk out of the store, and I was accompanied by many different voices.

"Sakura-san?"

"Hey, Sakura, where you goin'?"

"Hey, Sakura-chan! I didn't get my ramen yet, we can't go!"

"I'll be back in a minute guys, I've gotta go get some fresh air," I called behind me, not looking back. I got back many jumbled responses, the most prominent one being "Fine, but I'm not leaving 'til I try their ramen". I bent under the small cloth that hung over the entrance of the shop and walked over towards where I'd seen the man from inside. He still stood there, back to me, staring down a dark alleyway between the wooden houses on either side. There were few people on the street, but none of them were looking in his direction.

"Sas-- Sasu--" I couldn't get my throat unstuck. As I jogged across the street, I felt other people's eyes on me. I just hoped the same people were looking at him too. That would prove that I wasn't going insane.

I had almost reached him when he turned to me, and when he looked at me I stopped. It was almost as if his gaze commanded me to halt in my tracks, and though I tried my hardest to move forward again the strain was futile.

He smiled at me, his usually dark eyes ablaze with the Sharingan. "Well, Sakura… Have we figured out what this new Avenger is meant to do now?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned his head back towards the alley. "He is meant for the same fate as I… Nothing you can do will stop that. Gomenasai, Sakura…"

"W-w-WAIT!!" I cried, finally getting my throat unstuck. I reached for him, able to move once again, but he dissipated before my eyes. I fell through the air that he'd occupied just seconds earlier, feeling the ever prominent gazes of others.

Shaking my head, I stood back up. I felt like screaming at the gawkers on the street. Instead I calmly brushed my hands off onto my pale pink skirt and began to turn back towards the restaurant, but something stopped me. A thought crossed my mind, and it made me turn back towards the alley and walk into it, my eyes split. Why would Sasuke look back into the alley if he hadn't meant to give me a clue?

At the end of the dark alley, I kneeled down, almost unable to believe my eyes. Sitting alone on the ground, a single potted flower occupied the dark place. Leaning towards the plant, I realized that it was a rose, but it certainly didn't look well cared for. It was somewhat wilted and a few of the petals were missing. It looked like it hadn't been watered for days, and this darkness couldn't be good for the beautiful flower. Inspired by the sad subject, I picked it up and turned around, walking back the way I came.

I reached the restaurant just as my peers walked out, many of them frowning or rolling their eyes. Naruto came out last, talking animatedly with the timid waitress we'd met earlier.

"… really great, but it needs more taste," He was saying, gesturing with his hands. "Like I said before, leaving it in the water too long will make it sort of bland."

"A-arigatou, Naruto-kun," The waitress said enthusiastically, nodding and smiling weakly at him.

"No problem, Hikari-chan," Naruto replied joyfully, waving away her appreciative words. "On my vow, I will make the people of this village fans of ramen!" He pumped his fists in the air, and then he was dragged away by Shino, who captured the blonde in a horde of bugs.

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun! Goodbye, Shino-kun!" The waitress, Hikari, cried, waving at them as they walked away from the restaurant. "Bye, everyone else!" With that, she ducked back under the cloth.

"What were you two talking about, Naruto?" I asked, grinning as Shino finally let my teammate go.

He shrugged and smiled back at me. "Her ramen. It was good, but it was sort of bland. I simply gave her a few tips on how to make it better. I also told her she didn't have to be so shy." He threw a casual arm around an unsuspecting Hinata's shoulders, causing the girl to blush. "Kind of like how you used to be, Hinata-chan!"

_**Used **__to be? _I thought with a grin, watching Hinata grin from ear to ear at Naruto.

"He nearly talked her ear off." Surprisingly, Shino's voice was somewhat anger-ridden, and I felt a chill go up and down my spine. I would hate to be the reason for _his _anger. Sure, Shino was a friend, but he was a _scary _friend.

"Aww, that's sweet! Shino's jealous!" Kiba teased, absolutely glowing with good natured joy as he danced around his teammate on his toes.

Shino glared at him, something that would make any normal person drop dead. Of course, Kiba wasn't normal. "I am not jealous. If anything, I pity the poor girl for having to listen to Naruto's meaningless chitchat."

Releasing Hinata from his grasp, Naruto began to dance around Shino as well. "You're just jealous because you can't get a sweet, shy and cute girl like Hinata or Hikari to pay attention to you! Haha!"

I patted Hinata on the back and reminded her to breathe as I laughed at the uproar my friends were making. Kiba and Naruto were still teasing Shino, and Lee was trying to stop the latter from sicking his bug army on their teammates. Watching them together, one would think we had been specifically chosen for such a mission because we were such good friends. They would think we were so close that we would selflessly support each other in the thick of battle, give our lives to protect each other.

The truth was, they would be right.

"Hey, Sakura, where did that come from?" Lee asked, finally noticing the sad-looking rose in my arms. We were walking back to the Nomura mansion, Lee, Hinata and myself between Kiba, Naruto and Shino to make sure the other two didn't start teasing the latter again.

It only took me a moment to think something up. "I saw someone across the street from the restaurant. She was trying to give this little flower away, and no one would even spare a passing glance. Finally she just sat it down and walked off, and I just couldn't stand to let it die. You know how I am with flowers."

"It looks like it's had a hard life," Hinata stated, frowning at the flower.

_Kind of like Sasuke._ "Yeah, I know. I think I can restore it."

"I dunno, it looks pretty bad," Naruto said, leaning around Hinata to get a good look at the sad plant.

"What do you know, Naruto?!" For the second time today, I whopped Naruto a good one.

"Ow, ow, _owwww_," Naruto whimpered, clutching the large bump that had sprouted out of his spiky hair. Hinata shrieked and hurried over to his side as I walked forward, oddly miffed by his comment. Naruto didn't know anything. I would bring this little rose back to life. I swore on it-- for now, consider this my nindo.

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Well, that was chapter 8. Hope it wasn't too short for you all, I'm getting myself up out of a rut right now. XD Please tell me what you think!


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